bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Three linked variants have opposing regulatory effects on isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase gene expression
Authors: Brown Elizabeth A , Kales Susan , Boyle Michael James , Vitti Joseph , Kotliar Dylan , Schaffner Steve , Tewhey Ryan , Sabeti Pardis C
Published: November 2023

While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and positive selection scans identify genomic loci driving human phenotypic diversity, functional validation is required to discover the variant(s) responsible. We dissected the IVD gene locus—which encodes the isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase enzyme—implicated by selection statistics, multiple GWAS, and clinical genetics as important to function and fitness. We combined luciferase assays, CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing, massively parallel reporter assays (MPRA), and a deletion tiling MPRA strategy across regulatory loci. We identified three regulatory variants, including an indel, that may underpin GWAS signals for pulmonary fibrosis and testosterone, and that are linked on a positively selected haplotype in the Japanese population. These regulatory variants exhibit synergistic and opposing effects on IVD expression experimentally. Alleles at these variants lie on a haplotype tagged by the variant most strongly associated with IVD expression and metabolites, but with no functional evidence itself. This work demonstrates how comprehensive functional investigation and multiple technologies are needed to discover the true genetic drivers of phenotypic diversity.
DC-targeting lentivectors for cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Gea-Mallorquí Ester , Rowland-Jones Sarah
Published: November 2023

Lentivectors (LVs) induce sustained transgene expression and are attractive vaccine platforms for complex immune scenarios like cancer and persistent infections. This review summarises the literature on lentivectors with potential uses for in vivo immunotherapy, focussing on those targeting the most potent antigen-presenting cells: dendritic cells (DCs). There is a growing interest in myeloid-targeting therapies as, by influencing an early stage in the immune hierarchy, they can orchestrate a more diverse and complex targeted immune response. We dissect the nature of DC-targeting LVs and their induced immune responses to understand the state of the art, identify the knowledge gaps and guide efforts to maximise the generation of potent and effective immune responses. Lentivector-based vaccines provide several advantages over other vaccine platforms, such as directed tropism and limited vector immunogenicity, and have been shown to generate effective and sustained immune responses. Overall, DC-targeting lentivectors stand out as promising tools to be exploited in cancer immunotherapy, and new-generation LVs can further exploit the gained knowledge in the study of naturally occurring lentiviruses for a more directed and adjuvanted response.
The Association of Post-COVID-19–Related Symptoms and Preceding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection Among Fully Vaccinated Paramedics in Canada
Authors: Asamoah-Boaheng Michael , Grunau Brian , Karim Mohammad Ehsanul , Kirkham Tracy L , Demers Paul A , MacDonald Chris , Goldfarb David M
Published: November 2023

This study investigated the association between previous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and risk of symptoms associated with post-COVID conditions among fully vaccinated paramedics in Canada. We included vaccinated paramedics who provided blood sample and questionnaire data on the same date during the study period. We examined the presence of symptoms associated with post-COVID conditions and depression severity against prior SARS-CoV-2 infection categories. Compared to the “no previous SARS-CoV-2 infection” group, there was no detected association between known prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (odds ratio [OR], 1.42 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.96–2.09]), nor unknown prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.29–1.00]), and the presence of symptoms associated with post-COVID conditions.
Adaptive focus beam migration method in visco-acoustic media
Authors: Zhang Kai , Pan Yiming , Sang Yunyun , Xu Xuecheng , Meng Fankun
Published: November 2023

Owing to the prevalent viscosity in the subsurface medium, seismic waves experience amplitude attenuation effects during their propagation in visco-acoustic media. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a method that can compensate for wavelet amplitude attenuation and enhance imaging quality. In this paper, we derive an expression for corrected ray complex travel time by introducing the quality factor Q. Additionally, we modify the classical Gaussian beam propagation operator to an adaptive focus type propagation operator. Our research presents an adaptive focused beam migration imaging method specifically designed for viscous acoustic media, incorporating a combination of traditional Gaussian beam migration imaging methods. In comparison to traditional migration methods, the proposed approach achieves energy focusing along the phase axis and significantly improves imaging quality. The validity and effectiveness of our method are confirmed through the obtained imaging results.
When mRNA technology meets patent law: innovation, barriers and public health
Authors: Adekola Tolulope Anthony
Published: November 2023

The success of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has ushered in a new era of vaccine and therapeutic development. In this rapidly evolving field, top biotech and biopharma companies are constantly searching for new opportunities to create innovative treatments and vaccines. However, the landscape of mRNA patents is getting complicated and dense, with an accumulation of partially overlapping patent rights that require multiple rights holders’ permission for use and commercialization. Additionally, there are several pending patent lawsuits related to key components of mRNA platform technologies, with strong implications for follow-on innovation and technology diffusion within the field. The case of mRNA technology—as often happens with emerging technologies—is therefore emblematic of the policy dilemma faced by patent law of how to balance economic incentives in a setting of cumulative innovation. This article maps out relevant legal factors that, under different conditions, might aggravate or mitigate the potential negative effects of patents in the field. Further, it sets a framework for more targeted examination of the identified issues.
A groupwise approach for inferring heterogeneous treatment effects in causal inference
Authors: Park Chan , Kang Hyunseung
Published: November 2023

Recently, there has been great interest in estimating the conditional average treatment effect using flexible machine learning methods. However, in practice, investigators often have working hypotheses about effect heterogeneity across pre-defined subgroups of study units, which we call the groupwise approach. The paper compares two modern ways to estimate groupwise treatment effects, a non-parametric approach and a semi-parametric approach, with the goal of better informing practice. Specifically, we compare (a) the underlying assumptions, (b) efficiency and adaption to the underlying data generating models, and (c) a way to combine the two approaches. We also discuss how to test a key assumption concerning the semi-parametric estimator and to obtain cluster-robust standard errors if study units in the same subgroups are correlated. We demonstrate our findings by conducting simulation studies and reanalysing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study.
Some statistical remarks on GRBs jointly detected by Fermi and Swift satellites
Authors: Pinter Sandor , Balazs Lajos G , Bagoly Zsolt , Toth L Viktor , Racz Istvan I , Horvath Istvan
Published: November 2023

We made statistical analysis of the Fermi GBM and Swift BAT observational material, accumulated over 15 yr. We studied how GRB parameters (T90 duration, fluence, and peak flux) that were observed by only one satellite differ from those observed by both. In the latter case, it was possible to directly compare the values of the parameters that both satellites measured. The GRBs measured by both satellites were identified using the k-nearest neighbours algorithm in Euclidean distance. In the parameter space we determined the direction in which the jointly detected GRBs differ most from those detected by only one of the instruments using linear discriminant analyses. To get the strength of the relationship between the parameters obtained from the GBM and BAT, a canonical correlation was performed. The GBM and BAT T90 distributions were fitted with a linear combination of lognormal functions. The optimal number of such functions required for fit is two for GBM and three for BAT. Contrary to the widely accepted view, we found that the number of lognormal functions required for fitting the observed distribution of GRB durations does not allow us to deduce the number of central engine types responsible for GRBs.
Small-scale stellar haloes: detecting low surface brightness features in the outskirts of Milky Way dwarf satellites
Authors: Jensen Jaclyn , Hayes Christian R , Sestito Federico , McConnachie Alan W , Waller Fletcher , Smith Simon E T , Navarro Julio , Venn Kim A
Published: November 2023

Dwarf galaxies are valuable laboratories for dynamical studies related to dark matter and galaxy evolution, yet it is currently unknown just how physically extended their stellar components are. Satellites orbiting the Galaxy’s potential may undergo tidal stripping by the host, or alternatively, may themselves have accreted smaller systems whose debris populates the dwarf’s own stellar halo. Evidence of these past interactions, if present, is best searched for in the outskirts of the satellite. However, foreground contamination dominates the signal at these large radial distances, making observation of stars in these regions difficult. In this work, we introduce an updated algorithm for application to Gaia data that identifies candidate member stars of dwarf galaxies, based on spatial, colour–magnitude and proper motion information, and which allows for an outer component to the stellar distribution. Our method shows excellent consistency with spectroscopically confirmed members from the literature despite having no requirement for radial velocity information. We apply the algorithm to all ∼60 Milky Way dwarf galaxy satellites, and we find nine dwarfs (Boötes 1, Boötes 3, Draco 2, Grus 2, Segue 1, Sculptor, Tucana 2, Tucana 3, and Ursa Minor) that exhibit evidence for a secondary, low-density outer profile. We identify many member stars which are located beyond 5 half-light radii (and in some cases, beyond 10). We argue these distant stars are likely tracers of dwarf stellar haloes or tidal streams, though ongoing spectroscopic follow-up will be required to determine the origin of these extended stellar populations.
SCAN: Spatiotemporal Cloud Atlas for Neural cells
Authors: Deng Yushan , Lu Yubao , Li Mengrou , Shen Jiayi , Qin Siying , Zhang Wei , Zhang Qiang , Shen Zhaoyang , Li Changxiao , Jia Tengfei , Chen Peixin , Peng Lingmin , Chen Yangfeng , Zhang Wensheng , Liu Hebin , Zhang Liangming , Rong Limin , Wang Xiangdong , Chen Dongsheng
Published: November 2023

The nervous system is one of the most complicated and enigmatic systems within the animal kingdom. Recently, the emergence and development of spatial transcriptomics (ST) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies have provided an unprecedented ability to systematically decipher the cellular heterogeneity and spatial locations of the nervous system from multiple unbiased aspects. However, efficiently integrating, presenting and analyzing massive multiomic data remains a huge challenge. Here, we manually collected and comprehensively analyzed high-quality scRNA-seq and ST data from the nervous system, covering 10 679 684 cells. In addition, multi-omic datasets from more than 900 species were included for extensive data mining from an evolutionary perspective. Furthermore, over 100 neurological diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Down syndrome) were systematically analyzed for high-throughput screening of putative biomarkers. Differential expression patterns across developmental time points, cell types and ST spots were discerned and subsequently subjected to extensive interpretation. To provide researchers with efficient data exploration, we created a new database with interactive interfaces and integrated functions called the Spatiotemporal Cloud Atlas for Neural cells (SCAN), freely accessible at http://47.98.139.124:8799 or http://scanatlas.net. SCAN will benefit the neuroscience research community to better exploit the spatiotemporal atlas of the neural system and promote the development of diagnostic strategies for various neurological disorders.
DiSignAtlas: an atlas of human and mouse disease signatures based on bulk and single-cell transcriptomics
Authors: Zhai Zhaoyu , Lin Zhewei , Meng Xuehang , Zheng Xiao , Du Yujia , Li Zhi , Zhang Xuelu , Liu Chang , Zhou Lu , Zhang Xu , Tian Zhihao , Ma Qinfeng , Li Jinhao , Li Qiang , Pan Jianbo
Published: November 2023

Molecular signatures are usually sets of biomolecules that can serve as diagnostic, prognostic, predictive, or therapeutic markers for a specific disease. Omics data derived from various high-throughput molecular biology technologies offer global, unbiased and appropriately comparable data, which can be used to identify such molecular signatures. To address the need for comprehensive disease signatures, DiSignAtlas (http://www.inbirg.com/disignatlas/) was developed to provide transcriptomics-based signatures for a wide range of diseases. A total of 181 434 transcriptome profiles were manually curated from studies involving 1836 nonredundant disease types in humans and mice. Then, 10 306 comparison datasets comprising both disease and control samples, including 328 single-cell RNA sequencing datasets, were established. Furthermore, a total of 3 775 317 differentially expressed genes in humans and 1 723 674 in mice were identified as disease signatures by analysing transcriptome profiles using commonly used pipelines. In addition to providing multiple methods for the retrieval of disease signatures, DiSignAtlas provides downstream functional enrichment analysis, cell type analysis and signature correlation analysis between diseases or species when available. Moreover, multiple analytical and comparison tools for disease signatures are available. DiSignAtlas is expected to become a valuable resource for both bioscientists and bioinformaticians engaged in translational research.
IMG/PR: a database of plasmids from genomes and metagenomes with rich annotations and metadata
Authors: Camargo Antonio Pedro , Call Lee , Roux Simon , Nayfach Stephen , Huntemann Marcel , Palaniappan Krishnaveni , Ratner Anna , Chu Ken , Mukherjeep Supratim , Reddy T B K , Chen I-Min A , Ivanova Natalia N , Eloe-Fadrosh Emiley A , Woyke Tanja , Baltrus David A , Castañeda-Barba Salvador , de la Cruz Fernando , Funnell Barbara E , Hall James P J , Mukhopadhyay Aindrila , Rocha Eduardo P C , Stalder Thibault , Top Eva , Kyrpides Nikos C
Published: November 2023

Plasmids are mobile genetic elements found in many clades of Archaea and Bacteria. They drive horizontal gene transfer, impacting ecological and evolutionary processes within microbial communities, and hold substantial importance in human health and biotechnology. To support plasmid research and provide scientists with data of an unprecedented diversity of plasmid sequences, we introduce the IMG/PR database, a new resource encompassing 699 973 plasmid sequences derived from genomes, metagenomes and metatranscriptomes. IMG/PR is the first database to provide data of plasmid that were systematically identified from diverse microbiome samples. IMG/PR plasmids are associated with rich metadata that includes geographical and ecosystem information, host taxonomy, similarity to other plasmids, functional annotation, presence of genes involved in conjugation and antibiotic resistance. The database offers diverse methods for exploring its extensive plasmid collection, enabling users to navigate plasmids through metadata-centric queries, plasmid comparisons and BLAST searches. The web interface for IMG/PR is accessible at https://img.jgi.doe.gov/pr. Plasmid metadata and sequences can be downloaded from https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/portal/IMG_PR.
Rapid characterization of anti-CRISPR proteins and optogenetically engineered variants using a versatile plasmid interference system
Authors: Song Guoxu , Tian Chunhong , Li Jiahui , Zhang Fei , Peng Yuxin , Gao Xing , Tian Yong
Published: November 2023

Anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins are encoded by mobile genetic elements to overcome the CRISPR immunity of prokaryotes, displaying promises as controllable tools for modulating CRISPR-based applications. However, characterizing novel anti-CRISPR proteins and exploiting Acr-related technologies is a rather long and tedious process. Here, we established a versatile plasmid interference with CRISPR interference (PICI) system in Escherichia coli for rapidly characterizing Acrs and developing Acr-based technologies. Utilizing the PICI system, we discovered two novel type II-A Acrs (AcrIIA33 and AcrIIA34), which can inhibit the activity of SpyCas9 by affecting DNA recognition of Cas9. We further constructed a circularly permuted AcrIIA4 (cpA4) protein and developed optogenetically engineered, robust AcrIIA4 (OPERA4) variants by combining cpA4 with the light-oxygen-voltage 2 (LOV2) blue light sensory domain. OPERA4 variants are robust light-dependent tools for controlling the activity of SpyCas9 by approximately 1000-fold change under switching dark-light conditions in prokaryotes. OPERA4 variants can achieve potent light-controllable genome editing in human cells as well. Together, our work provides a versatile screening system for characterizing Acrs and developing the Acr-based controllable tools.
Real-Life Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Delivery Modes: A Comparison Against Telephone Counseling and the Role of Individual Characteristics and Health Conditions in Quit Success
Authors: Poole Nikita L , Candel Math J J M , Willemsen Marc C , van den Brand Floor A
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Professional behavioral counseling for smoking cessation can be delivered in many forms, which may not work equally well for everyone. We aim to explore in a real-world setting whether different delivery modes yield different rates of quit success and whether quit success varies based on gender, age, educational level, and being treated for a health condition.

Aims and Methods

We used monitoring data (n = 13 747) from a smoking cessation counseling provider in the Netherlands (September 2018 to August 2021) to compare differences in quit success immediately after the end of counseling and at 12-month follow-up between telephone and other modes of counseling. Participants chose which mode of counseling they received. At the 12-month follow-up, we also examined differences in quit success based on demographic characteristics and whether one is being treated for various health conditions.

Results

Participants of in-person group counseling and online in-company group counseling were significantly more likely to have quit immediately after the counseling compared with telephone counseling (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.08–1.44; OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.18–2.24). Analyses revealed no significant differences in quit success between telephone and other modes of counseling after 12 months. Those treated for a respiratory or psychological condition were less likely to have maintained quit success, as were women, and participants with a lower educational level.

Conclusions

When chosen by oneself, the mode of smoking cessation counseling received does not appear to be important for long-term quit success. However, certain groups warrant extra support to prevent excessive program attrition and unsuccessful quit attempts.

Implications

Our findings suggest that when chosen by oneself, the delivery mode of smoking cessation counseling does not appear to be important for long-term quit success. This finding is of particular relevance for those who are unable to attend in-person cessation counseling due to, for instance, reduced accessibility or mobility. We also found that women, lower educated, and younger participants were more likely to dropout of the cessation program or to not have maintained a quit attempt, signaling that disparities in smoking cessation persist when standardized counseling is given, and therefore more tailored counseling may be necessary for these groups.
Chemicals in Cigarette Flavor Capsules From Guatemala and Mexico
Authors: Mus Sophia , Barrientos Inti , Vidaña-Pérez Desirée , Monzon José , Barnoya Joaquin , Page Michelle K , Block Ashleigh C , Goniewicz Maciej L , O’Connor Richard J , Thrasher James F
Published: November 2023

Background

The global market share for cigarettes with flavor capsules has grown exponentially over the last decade, particularly in Latin America. When smoking, consumers crush a liquid capsule in the filter that flavors the smoke. Little is known about the chemical constituents of the liquids in capsules or their potential health risks.

Methods

Based on consumer data and availability in Mexico and Guatemala, 31 flavor capsule brands were purchased (19 and 12, respectively) in 2020. Since some cigarettes included multiple capsules in a stick (up to 2) or pack (up to 4), the final analytic sample included 50 capsules. We conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS, Agilent Technologies, Inc)

Results

The qualitative analysis detected 296 compounds (range = 9–67 per capsule), and all capsules contained menthol. Among the compounds detected in more than half the sample were limonene, menthone, benzaldehyde, eucalyptol, and triacetin. Traces of nicotine were found in 22% of the capsules. In the quantitative analysis, menthol concentrations were 33 times greater than the next most common compound (limonene). Benzyl alcohol and vanillin were also found in high concentrations. Comparing same-brand varieties across countries showed substantial variability in the concentration of menthol and other compounds.

Conclusions

Menthol is an omnipresent constituent in capsule cigarettes, perhaps because of its anesthetizing and reinforcing addictive properties. Other compounds found are toxic, potentially carcinogenic, and may enhance addictiveness. Variance in the presence and concentrations of such compounds highlights the importance of product standards to regulate capsule content.

Implications

This study evaluated the chemical content of capsule cigarettes from two Latin American countries that have two of the highest market shares for capsule cigarettes worldwide. Compared to other studies, our assessment included brand varieties from two countries to compare the differences in chemical content by country. Our results yield that menthol is found in all capsules, and that other chemicals found may prolong nicotine exposure and therefore reinforce the addictive properties of cigarettes.
Banking structural reforms and top income shares: regulate or deregulate?
Authors: Casti Carola
Published: November 2023

This article investigates if, and to what extent, banking structural reforms may affect the top income shares over time. Canada and Italy are used as case studies, as both countries undertook a major deregulation and liberalization process within their banking sector in the early 1990s. These banking policies aimed at privatizing the banking sector and reintroducing the quasi universal banking model. The evaluation of these policy packages is undertaken by implementing the Synthetic Control Method. Findings point out, overall, a robust and substantial increase of some of the top income shares in both countries, over the post-deregulation period. This work contributes by also identifying the main potential mechanisms—both direct and indirect—via which banking deregulation might have operated.
The Poems and Psalms of the Hebrew Bible
Authors: Gillingham S E
Published: November 2023

Because of the command not to make `graven images' the creativity of the ancient Jews was always somewhat constrained: instead of the visual arts, poetry and story became the two most important forms which depicted the relationship between God and his people. This book concentrates on the poetry of the Hebrew Bible. After considering the essential elements of Hebrew verse, it looks as the most familiar poems - the Psalms, the Song of Solomon, and the poetry in Job and Proverbs - as well as at less familiar examples of poems which by contrast are embedded in narrative, such as war poetry, harvest hymns, elegies, prayers of protest, and thanksgiving songs. Much of this poetry suggests an earlier setting in the life of the people - from a more popular family or clan setting as well as the official royal court, and from local outlying sanctuaries as well as at the Temple in Jerusalem. Hence although these biblical poems should be understood primarily as ancient literary texts, many also have a setting in life beyond the text, offering a broader framework of reference on account of their pre-literary history. This is a study for those who already have some grounding in the contents of the Hebrew Bible, but it is also designed to be read by non-specialists, and no knowledge of Hebrew is presumed. A select bibliography following each chapter offers suggestions for further study. This study completes the Oxford Bible Series.
Overview of epidemiology, classification, and aetiology
Authors: Mayou Richard , Bass Christopher , Sharpe Michael
Published: November 2023

The editors emphasize the need to take a comprehensive view of the many types of acute and chronic functional symptoms which occur both in the general population and in all medical settings. They suggest that existing psychiatric and other classifications are inadequate and restrict and distort discussion. Instead it is proposed that functional symptoms can be more satisfactorily classified in terms of five separate dimensions. The aetiology of functional somatic symptoms is reviewed and a multicausal and an interactive model, which includes both physical and psychological factors, is proposed. This approach avoids arbitrary distinctions between organic and psychological causations. Variants of this model are implicit in most of the other chapters in this book.
Pain and anxiety control for the conscious dental patient
Authors: Meechan John G , Robb Nigel D , Seymour Robin A
Published: November 2023

The perception of pain in the mind of dental patients is a significant deterrant to regular dental attendence by manycontrol of this pain and anxiety is therefore a treatment issue which is central to the clinical practice of dentistry. This textbook covers both local anaesthesia and sedation comprehensively, and provides practical instructions for the dental student. It provides a theoretical framework based on the anatomy, physiology and pharmacology of pain and anxiety control Pain and anxiety control for the concious dental patient provides comprehensive coverage of pain and anxiety management for concious dental patients; covers the control of operative, perioperative and post-operative pain in dentistry; describes all aspects of local anaesthesia and sedation in dentistry; provides a rational approach to the prescription of drugs; practical guidance and instruction on techniques; over 150 photographs and 50 line diagrams. This book covers local anaesthesia including inhalational, intravenous sedation, control of post-operative pain, management of non-dental oro-facial pain and management of medical emergencies related to pain control. It is timely - for example, the teaching of sedation in dental schools is an issue currently being pushed by GDC (1996) Chaps 6 & 9 are unique (Basic principles of dental local anaesthetic injections and Intraligamentary, intra-osseous and intrapulpalanaesthesia)
Congenital muscular dystrophies
Authors: Mercuri Eugenio , Muntoni Francesco
Published: November 2023

The clinical diversity of CMD is suggested by the different degrees of motor develop- mental delay, physical disability and muscle pathology, and by the variable presence of mental retardation. Most of the efforts aimed at delineating and subdividing the various CMD forms have originated from the International Consortium on CMD, that, under he auspices of the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC), has convened six dedicated workshops, whose proceedings have been published in Neuromuscular Disorders (Dubowitz 1994; 1997; 1999; Dubowitz and Fardeau 1995; Muntoni and Guicheney 2001). The classification proposed in this chapter, that takes into account the recent advances in the molecular genetic studies, is largely a reflection of the data presented at these workshops.
The Truth about Fractions
Authors: Higgins Peter M
Published: November 2023

Mathematicians are not as fond of calculators as you might expect. Computers and calculators were of course invented and developed by mathematicians and engineers and are extremely useful, so why are we, at best, ambivalent towards them? The reason is that calculators are not much use when it comes to understanding the nuts and bolts of arithmetic, and they can act to replace thinking rather than stimulate t. Their widespread use in mathematics lessons can undermine learning. This fact has now been recognized in education and their indiscriminate use has been curtailed.
Nineteenth-Century Concert Life
Authors: Wollenberg Susan
Published: November 2023

Concert life in nineteenth-century Oxford reflected the unprecedented development of the colleges as centres of musical activity and resources, as Maurice in 1856 indicated, commenting on the growth of instrumental music-making Music has found an entrance within the walls of all our colleges, and the number of our students who can play upon some instrument, and have some knowledge of Music, is very considerable … We can recollect that, whereas some thirty years ago there were pianofortes to be found in scarcely half a dozen colleges throughout the whole university … now many a single college may count as many or more within its own walls, to say nothing of other instruments in great variety … ’
Personalities: Bishop, Ouseley, Stainer, Parry, Parratt, and Allen
Authors: Wollenberg Susan
Published: November 2023

Sir Henry Bishop’s comparatively brief spell as Professor of Music at Oxford (1848-55) following Crotch’s incumbency has traditionally been regarded as unsatisfactory. Thewlis crossed out his original assessment ‘was little more than a charlatan’ and substituted ‘but an indifferent musician’, summing him up as ‘an indefatigable arranger of other men’s work’.’ Such descriptions fail to do justice to the range of Bishop’s abilities, the development of his career, and the effect of his personal circumstances.
Resisting Representation
Authors: Scarry Elaine
Published: November 2023

This collection of essays displays Elaine Scarry’s concern with problematics of representation as exemplified in literary texts that deal with such concepts as work, pain, time, and the cosmos. Through her readings of texts by Thomas Hardy, Samuel Beckett, Boethius, William Thackeray, and others, Scarry demonstrates the difficulties and the complexities of the ways in which language and imagery attempt, and fail, to make present some aspect of the `real’.
Guerrilla versus Grassroots
Authors: Boyle Deirdre
Published: November 2023

The video underground’s first encounter with broadcast television—an adolescent confrontation with a patriarch—proved disastrous. Despite the underground’s dictum that “VT is not TV,” they had jumped at the opportunity of having their work broadcast. They had tasted the power of television: they had had money to burn, engineers to command, state-of-the-art equipment to experiment with, and the prospect of audiences in the millions. And they had blown it. Furious over their expulsion from the Garden, the video underground vigorously rejected “beast television” and entered a period of disarray and notoriety.
Beyond Nationalism
Authors: Deak Istvan
Published: November 2023

István Deák examines the Habsburg officer corps and the way in which it became the foremost preserver of the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian empire from the mid-nineteeth century to the empire's defeat in 1918. The officer corps was an important cohesive force in the empire, for it created a unified and loyal army from recruits representing all the different nationalities and ethnic groups of Austro-Hungary. The policies, character, social structure, and self-image of the Habsburg army have been neglected in the extensive literature on the origins of the First World War. Deák provides the most comprehensive social and cultural portrait to date of this important institution.
Running To Paradise
Authors: Rosenthal M L
Published: November 2023

In Running to Paradise, M.L. Rosenthal, hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as “one of the most important critics of twentieth-century poetry,” leads us through the lyric poetry and poetic drama of our century’s greatest poet in English. His readings shed new, vivid light on Yeats’s daring uses of tradition, his love poetry, and the way he faced the often tragic realities of revolution and civil war. Running to Paradise describes Yeat’s whole effort--sometimes leavened by wild humor--to convey, with high poetic integrity, his passionate sense of his own life and of his chaotic era. Himself a noted poet, Rosenthal stresses Yeats’s artistry and psychological candor. The book ranges from his early exquisite lyrical poems and folklore-rooted plays, through the tougher-minded, more confessional mature work (including the sublime achievement of The Tower), and then to the sometimes “mad” yet often brilliant tragic or comic writing of his last years. Quoting extensively from Yeats, Rosenthal charts the gathering force with which the poet confronted his major life-issues: his art’s demands, his persistent but hopeless love for one woman, the complexities of marriage to another woman at age 52, and his distress during Ireland’s “Troubles.” Yeats’s deep absorption in female sensibility, in the cycles of history and human thought, and in supernaturalism and “the dead” comes strongly into play as well.
The Book of Revelation
Authors: Thompson Leonard L
Published: November 2023

In this important new study, Thompson examines the literary and linguistic characteristics of the Book of Revelation and analyses their relationship to the situation of the Asian Christians to whom the Book is addressed. Using both literary and archaeological sources, he reconstructs the social and political conditions of life in the province of Asia under the emperor Domitian at the end of the first century AD and attempts to determine the place of Christians and Jews in that social setting. In this way he is able to situate the text in its true context and shed new light upon its intended meaning.
Authority without Power
Authors: Haley John Owen
Published: November 2023

This study by a leading scholar of Japanese law considers the role of law in contemporary Japan. Haley argues that the weakness of legal controls throughout Japanese history has assured the development and strength of informal community controls based on custom and consensus to maintain order.
“Sister vnto Astrofell,”
Authors: Hannay Margaret P
Published: November 2023

In the months immediately after Sir Philip’s death, he was publicly mourned in England and by the Continental Protestants who had looked to him as their future leader. Popular ballads celebrated his martial prowess, and four collections of elegies issued by Cambridge, Oxford, and the University of Leiden bemoaned his loss.1 Several contemporary accounts of the battle were published, including those by George Whetstone, Sir Philip Sidney (1587), based on information supplied by his brother Bernard, who had fought at Zutphen; by Edmund Molineux, in Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587); and by Henry Archer, in John Stow’s Anna/es (1592).
Placing Poor Susan: Wordsworth and the New Historicism
Authors: Manning Peter J
Published: November 2023

The New Historicism has invigorated the study of English romantic poetry, renewing our sense of the depth, particularity, and strength of the poets’ engagement with their world, and underwriting a healthily critical engagement with their values. But the approach has perils too, chiefly those of restricting the meanings of the poetic text to the generalized ideological matrix to which it is declared to belong. One might avoid these pitfalls by recognizing that the historical situation of the text can only be reached along the treacherous, badly signposted byways of representation, and taking the circuitous route such recognition implies.
Pure Consciousness and Indian Buddhism
Authors: Griffiths Paul J
Published: November 2023

There has been a good deal of discussion in the philosophical journals recently about the possibility of a special type of consciousness.1 This special kind of consciousness is called, variously, pure consciousness, unmediated consciousness, contentless consciousness, and so forth. Much of the debate has taken place in response to Steven Katz’s attempt to show that such consciousness-which he calls pure unmediated experience (1978:26)-neither logically can nor as a matter of fact does occur.
Contemporary Epistemology and the Study of Mysticism
Authors: Rothberg Donald
Published: November 2023

What epistemologies and methodologies help us to understand the phenomena of mysticism? How do these epistemologies and methodologies clarify some aspects of these phenomena while obscuring or occluding other aspects? When we investigate mystical traditions, how and where do we look? Do we look only where we think there is more light to see? In this essay I would like to help open up these questions more by focusing especially on the limits of one influential contemporary approach, which emphasizes study of the contexts of mysticism-the core texts, practices, social relations, and historical traditions out of which a given form of mysticism develops-and the way that mystical experience is, at least in part, constructed on the basis of a particular background context. Such an approach has been recently developed in two collections of essays edited by Steven T. Katz. I will, following others in this volume, identify this approach as constructivism (although it is important to note that there are other contemporary variants of constructivism with differing assumptions).
On the Possibility of Pure Consciousness
Authors: Woodhouse Mark B
Published: November 2023

Throughout recorded history and across major cultural and religious barriers many persons have claimed to have, had experiences of “pure” consciousness, that is, of a consciousness free of content and intention. Major spiritual traditions are built in significant ways around the existence of these experiences and the desirability of achieving them. Yet many philosophical and scientific traditions, especially in the West, deny not only their existence, but also their possibility. Consciousness often is conceived in ways that rule out the possibility of a pure state on a priori grounds. My purpose in this essay is to show that there are no logical or, to a lesser extent, phenomenological considerations that rule out the existence of pure consciousness.
The Social Nature of Play fighting and Play Chasing: Mechanisms and Strategies Underlying Cooperation and Compromise
Authors: Boulton Michael J , Smith Peter K
Published: November 2023

Play is a widespread behavior in the young of most mammalian species. It is a noticeable feature of behavior in primates, and although there are important within- and between-species differences in the actual forms of play behaviors, it very often appears as play fighting and play chasing, collectively known as rough-and-tumble (r/t). Rough-and-tumble will be the main focus of attention in this chapter, although how it may be related to some other types of social play will also be discussed.
Introduction
Authors: Gagnier Regenia
Published: November 2023

Subjectivities: A History of Self-Representation is a comparative analysis of subjectivity and value across social class and gender in nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Britain. I have attempted a cultural and material analysis of Victorian subjectivity-of what it was like to be a Victorian gentleman, lady, midwife, carpenter, mudlark, barrister, or nurse. In doing this I have simultaneously asked questions of value: What are the varieties of human desire? What is the nature of the society that can pro vide for such desires? And what kind of subjectivities have we today valued? Developing from my own disciplinary situation, the study has also evolved as a critique (an examination of the scope and limits) of the kind of subjectivity we have valued in imaginative literature. I view the completed project as a historical study of possible subjects, of human possibilities in antagonism and participation. My texts, or primary sources, are hundreds of autobiographical works by women and men from early nine teenth-through early twentieth-century Britain with a predominant focus upon the Victorian period. The “self-representation” of the title, then, refers literally to autobiography and more broadly to an axiology of the self: the systems of values, expectations, and constraints that come into play when one represents oneself to others in the concrete circumstances of daily life.
Subjectivity, the Body, and Material Culture
Authors: Gagnier Regenia
Published: November 2023

In “A Manifesto for Cyborgs,” Donna Haraway signals three boundary breakdowns causing considerable stress in late twentieth-century life, in which the meaning of life-that is, of the word life-is part of the stress.1 These boundary breakdowns are between the human and animal, the human/animal and machine, and, a subset of the second, the physical and nonphysical. Biology and evolutionary theory have claimed that human and nonhuman animals share language, tool use, and social behavior, and that nothing really convincingly settles their separation; advocates of animal rights have repudiated the need for such a separation. The distinction between organism and machine has disappeared with organicism in postmodern life: precybernetic machines were not self-moving, self-designing, or autonomous, says Haraway, adding that they were not selves at all, but only a caricature, like Frankenstein’s monster, of the masculinist reproductive dream.
The Study of Works: A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Children as Thinkers and Learners (coauthor: Patricia F. Carini)
Authors: Himley Margaret
Published: November 2023

Founded in 1965, the Prospect School in North Bennington, Vermont, is a small independent school from kindergarten through eighth grade, located in a sprawling nineteenth-century lodge on a large wooded lot. It is an inviting place, different from the scenes of learning I have known. The small interconnecting rooms and alcoves-filled with scattered tables and chairs, used clothing for drama, papier-mache dinosaurs, books, children’s artwork of all kinds, maps, charts, and aquariumsspread out in labyrinthine ways across all three stories. Sunlight and the smells of drying paint, paste, and old wood flood through the cluttered rooms.
The Effects of Prompts on Revision: A Glimpse of the Gap Between Planning and Performance
Authors: Peck Wayne C
Published: November 2023

One way of viewing the findings of this study is to picture yourself as a teacher confronted with seventy-two revisions of a previous writing assignment. How does one begin? What assumptions do we, as teachers, bring to a revision assignment? Do our assumptions match those of our students? This study addresses these questions and makes two observations regarding how students in college revised a written assignment. First, the writers we observed demonstrated different levels of "metacognitive" awareness and control (Brown, 1985) over the revision process.
Medical and Artistic Vision
Authors: Almeida Hermione De
Published: November 2023

In the Anatomy of Melancholy when speaking of the need for the patient’s trust in his physician and the physician’s confidence in his cure, Burton proposes that “the form of health is contained in the Physician’s mind.”‘ Romantic physicians also speculated similarly, but they did so without confidence in any theoretical system of medicine and without firm belief in any ideal of health.
Evolution of Mind
Authors: Almeida Hermione De
Published: November 2023

It is the eternal law “That first in beauty should be first in might,” Oceanus says in Hyperion (11, 229). But what is beauty? The sea-god’s conjunction of the concept of comparative perfection in the species common to Romantic evolutionary thought with a more diffuse but no less comparative concept of aesthetic ascendancy avoids a fixed definition of beauty; it nevertheless carries important and specific reverberations for the meaning of power and perception in Keats. To the equation of fresh perfection with “a power more strong in beauty” in Hyperion belongs, as we shall see, a larger Keatsian equation of intensity and “fairness”-in life as in art.
Divorce Lawyers and Their Clients
Authors: Sarat Austin , Felstiner William L F
Published: November 2023

Each year more than 2 million Americans divorced, and most of them use a lawyer. In closed-door conversations between lawyers and their clients strategy is planned, tactics are devised, and the emotional climate of the divorce is established. Do lawyers contribute to the pain and emotional difficulty of divorce by escalating demands and encouraging unreasonable behavior? Do they take advantage of clients at a time of emotional difficulty? Can and should clients trust their lawyers to look out for their welfare and advance their long-term interests? Austin Sarat and William L.F. Felstiner’s new book, based on a pioneering and intensive study of actual conferences between divorce lawyers and their clients, provides an unprecedented behind-the-scenes description of the lawyer-client relationship, and calls into question much of the conventional wisdom about what divorce lawyers actually do. Divorce Lawyers and Their Clients suggests that most divorces are marked less by a pattern of aggressive advocacy than by one of inaction and drift. It uncovers reasons why lawyers find divorce practice frustrating and difficult and why clients frequently feel dissatisfied with their lawyers. This new work provides a unique perspective on the dynamics of professionalism. It charts the complex and shifting ways lawyers and clients “negotiate” their relationship as they work out the strategy and tactics of divorce. Sarat and Felstiner show how both lawyers and clients are able to draw on resources of power to set the agenda of their interaction, while neither one is fully in charge. Rather, power shifts between the two parties; where it is achieved, power is found in the ability to have one’s understandings of the social and legal worlds of divorce accepted. Power then works through the creation of shared meanings. Divorce Lawyers and Their Clients examines the effort to create such shared meanings about the nature of marriage and why marriages fail, the operation of the legal process, and the best way to bring divorces to closure. It will be fascinating reading for anyone who is going through, or has gone through a divorce, as well as for lawyers, judges, and scholars of law and society.