bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mapping estimated deep drainage in the lower Namoi Valley using a chloride mass balance model and EM34 data
Authors: Woodforth A. , Triantafilis J. , Cupitt J. , Malik R. S. , Subasinghe R. , Ahmed M. F. , Huckel A. I. , Geering H.
Published: July 2012

The Murray Darling Basin accounts for half of all water used for irrigation in Australia. However, improvements in water use efficiency (WUE) are required, owing to increasing demands on water (e.g., environmental flows). This requires data on the spatial distribution of soil-hydrological properties, such as deep drainage (DD). Measuring DD using lysimeters, although accurate, is site-specific. Alternatively, estimates are commonly made using chloride mass balance (CMB) models. Gaining this information across a large area is still problematic due to the prohibitive cost of drilling, sampling, and laboratory analysis. Ancillary data, obtained from electromagnetic (EM) instruments, have been used to add value to a limited number of DD estimates. We evaluated the use of a hierarchical spatial regression technique to map the estimated DD using a steady state CMB model coupled to EM34 measurements. We first compared a standard least squares and a stepwise multiple linear regression model. The former includes the use of EM34 signal data in the horizontal (EM34-10H, EM34-20H, and EM34-40H) and vertical (EM34-10V, EM34-20V, and EM34-40V) dipoles, as well as two trend surface variables (scaled easting and northing). The latter model only includes a statistically significant ancillary variable (EM34-10H) and a trend surface parameter (scaled northing), and we use this to estimate DD across the lower Namoi Valley. EM34 data available on a 1 km grid proved useful for mapping DD on a reconnaissance level, with the results closely related to the physiography. In particular, large DD estimates are associated with the prior stream channels. Conversely, smaller DD estimates characterize the agriculturally significant clay plain which is used extensively for irrigated cotton production. The map of estimated DD will allow improved siting of dams and irrigation fields, as well as indicate where more efficient cropping or irrigation systems can be implemented to increase WUE.
Locomotion on a slope in leaf-cutter ants: metabolic energy use, behavioural adaptations and the implications for route selection on hilly terrain
Authors: Holt Natalie C. , Askew Graham N.
Published: July 2012

The metabolic cost of the negotiation of obstacles, and the influence that this has on route selection, are important determinants of an animal's locomotor behaviour. We determined the gross metabolic cost of locomotion on slopes of different gradients, ranging from –90 to +90 deg, in leaf-cutter ants (Acromyrmex octospinosus) in a closed-circuit respirometry system. Ants were able to select their preferred speed for each gradient. The gross metabolic energy expenditure per unit distance travelled on the slope (Cpath) was calculated from the rate of CO2 production and the speed of locomotion. These data were used to predict the optimal slopes for minimising the vertical cost of locomotion and vertical journey time. The gross rate of CO2 production was approximately constant (1.7 ml g–1 h–1) and was not significantly affected by slope. Ants moderated their speed with slope (P<0.05), travelling the fastest during level locomotion (2.0±0.1 cm s–1, N=20) and increasingly slowly with increased gradient (both on an incline and a decline). Cpath varied significantly with slope, being lowest during level locomotion (646.0±51.2 J kg–1 m–1) and increasing with increasing gradient. These results suggest that ants adapt their locomotor behaviour to keep metabolic rate constant despite changing mechanical demands. It is predicted that when undertaking a journey involving vertical displacement that ants will select routes with a gradient of between 51 and 57 deg during ascent and with a gradient of between –45 and –51 deg during descent, in order to minimise both vertical journey time and vertical cost of locomotion.
Analytical methods for the geometric optics of thermal vision illustrated with four species of pitvipers
Authors: Bakken George S. , Colayori Samantha E. , Duong Taihung
Published: July 2012

The pitviper facial pit is a pinhole camera-like sensory organ consisting of a flask-shaped cavity divided into two chambers by a suspended membrane. Neurophysiological studies and simplified optical models suggest that facial pits detect thermal radiation and form an image that is combined with visual input in the optic tectum to form a single multispectral image. External pit anatomy varies markedly among taxonomic groups. However, optical function depends on unknown internal anatomy. Therefore, we developed methods for relating anatomy to optical performance. To illustrate, we constructed detailed anatomical models of the internal anatomy of the facial pits of four individuals of four pitviper species using X-ray tomography sections of fresh material. We used these models to define the point spread function, i.e. the distribution of radiation from a point source over the pit membrane, for each species. We then used optical physics, heat transfer physics and computational image processing to define the thermal image formed on the pit membrane for each species. Our computed pit membrane images are consistent with behavioral observations if the sensitivity of membrane receptors equals the most sensitive (ca. 0.001°C) laboratory estimates. Vignetting (variation in optical aperture size with view angle) and differences between body and environmental temperatures can create temperature variation across the membrane that greatly exceeds image temperature contrasts, potentially impairing imaging. Spread functions plotted versus source point azimuth and elevation show distinct patterns that suggest new research directions into the relationships among the optical anatomy, ecology, behavior and sensory neurophysiology of pitvipers.
Insulin signalling in mushroom body neurons regulates feeding behaviour inDrosophilalarvae
Authors: Zhao Xiao Li , Campos Ana Regina
Published: July 2012

Whereas the pivotal role of insulin signalling in cell division, growth and differentiation is well documented, its role in the regulation of neuronal function and behaviour has recently become the focus of intense investigation. The simple organization of the Drosophila larval brain and the availability of genetic tools to impair the function of insulin receptor signalling in a spatially specific manner makes Drosophila an attractive model to investigate the role of the insulin pathway in specific behaviours. Here, we show that impairment of insulin signalling in the mushroom body neurons, a structure involved in associative learning, impairs feeding behaviour in the Drosophila larva.
Pupil light reflex in the Atlantic brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis
Authors: McCormick Lillian R. , Cohen Jonathan H.
Published: July 2012

Coleoid behavioral ecology is highly visual and requires an eye capable of forming images in a variety of photic conditions. A variable pupil aperture is one feature that contributes to this visual flexibility in most coleoids, although pupil responses have yet to be quantitatively documented for squid. The pupil light reflex (PLR) of the Atlantic brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis, was analyzed by directly exposing one eye of individual squid to light stimuli of varying irradiance and imaging the reflex, while simultaneously recording from the opposite, indirectly stimulated eye to determine whether the constriction was consensual between eyes. A PLR was measured in L. brevis, with an asymmetrical constriction observed under increasing irradiance levels that was not consensual between eyes, although a response of some level was observed in both eyes. Response thresholds ranged between 12.56 and 12.66 log photons cm–2 s–1. The PLR was rapid and dependent upon the stimulus irradiance, achieving half-maximum constriction within 0.49–1.2 s. The spectral responsivity of the PLR was analyzed by measuring the magnitude of the reflex in the eye directly stimulated by light of equal quantal intensity at wavelengths from 410 to 632 nm. The responsivity curve showed a maximum at 500 nm, indicating the eye is especially well suited for vision at twilight. These results, when considered in the context of the ambient light characteristics, show that the PLR of L. brevis contributes to a dynamic visual system capable of adjusting to the highly variable composition of light in its estuarine habitat.
Characterization of a β-adrenergic-like octopamine receptor from the rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis)
Authors: Wu Shun-Fan , Yao Yao , Huang Jia , Ye Gong-Yin
Published: July 2012

Octopamine, the invertebrate counterpart of adrenaline and noradrenaline, plays a key role in regulation of many physiological and behavioral processes in insects. It modulates these functions through binding to specific octopamine receptors, which are typical rhodopsin-like G-protein coupled receptors. A cDNA encoding a seven-transmembrane receptor was cloned from the nerve cord of the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis, viz. CsOA2B2, which shares high sequence similarity to CG6989, a Drosophila β-adrenergic-like octopamine receptor (DmOctβ2R). We generated an HEK-293 cell line that stably expresses CsOA2B2 in order to examine the functional and pharmacological properties of this receptor. Activation of CsOA2B2 by octopamine increased the production of cAMP in a dose-dependent manner (EC50=2.33 nmol l–1), with a maximum response at 100 nmol l–1. Tyramine also activated the receptor but with much less potency than octopamine. Dopamine and serotonin had marginal effects on cAMP production. Using a series of known agonists and antagonists for octopamine receptors, we observed a rather unique pharmacological profile for CsOA2B2 through measurements of cAMP. The rank order of potency of the agonists was naphazoline > clonidine. The activated effect of octopamine is abolished by co-incubation with phentolamine, mianserin or chlorpromazine. Using in vivo pharmacology, CsOA2B2 antagonists mianserin and phentolamine impaired the motor ability of individual rice stem borers. The results of the present study are important for a better functional understanding of this receptor as well as for practical applications in the development of environmentally sustainable pesticides.
Ontogeny in the visual system of Nile tilapia
Authors: Sabbah Shai , Hui Jonathan , Hauser Frances E. , Nelson William A. , Hawryshyn Craig W.
Published: July 2012

Retinal neurogenesis in fish facilitates cellular rearrangement throughout ontogeny, potentially allowing for optimization of the visual system to shifts in habitat and behaviour. To test this possibility, we studied the developmental trajectory of the photopic visual process in the Nile tilapia. We examined ontogenetic changes in lens transmission, photoreceptor sensitivity and post-receptoral sensitivity, and used these to estimate changes in cone pigment frequency and retinal circuitry. We observed an ontogenetic decrease in ultraviolet (UV) photoreceptor sensitivity, which resulted from a reduction in the SWS1 cone pigment frequency, and was associated with a reduction in lens transmission at UV wavelengths. Additionally, post-receptoral sensitivity to both UV and long wavelengths decreased with age, probably reflecting changes in photoreceptor sensitivity and retinal circuitry. This novel remodelling of retinal circuitry occurred following maturation of the visual system but prior to reaching adulthood, and thus may facilitate optimization of the visual system to the changing sensory demands. Interestingly, the changes in post-receptoral sensitivity to long wavelengths could not be predicted by the changes observed in lens transmission, cone pigment frequency or photoreceptor sensitivity. This finding emphasizes the importance of considering knowledge of visual sensitivity and retinal processing when studying visual adaptations and attempting to relate visual function to the natural environment. This study advances our understanding of ontogeny in visual systems and demonstrates that the association between different elements of the visual process can be explored effectively by examining visual function throughout ontogeny.
Circulating nitric oxide metabolites and cardiovascular changes in the turtleTrachemys scriptaduring normoxia, anoxia and reoxygenation
Authors: Jacobsen Søren B. , Hansen Marie N. , Jensen Frank B. , Skovgaard Nini , Wang Tobias , Fago Angela
Published: July 2012

Turtles of the genus Trachemys show a remarkable ability to survive prolonged anoxia. This is achieved by a strong metabolic depression, redistribution of blood flow and high levels of antioxidant defence. To understand whether nitric oxide (NO), a major regulator of vasodilatation and oxygen consumption, may be involved in the adaptive response of Trachemys to anoxia, we measured NO metabolites (nitrite, S-nitroso, Fe-nitrosyl and N-nitroso compounds) in the plasma and red blood cells of venous and arterial blood of Trachemys scripta turtles during normoxia and after anoxia (3 h) and reoxygenation (30 min) at 21°C, while monitoring blood oxygen content and circulatory parameters. Anoxia caused complete blood oxygen depletion, decrease in heart rate and arterial pressure, and increase in venous pressure, which may enhance heart filling and improve cardiac contractility. Nitrite was present at high, micromolar levels in normoxic blood, as in some other anoxia-tolerant species, without significant arterial–venous differences. Normoxic levels of erythrocyte S-nitroso compounds were within the range found for other vertebrates, despite very high measured thiol content. Fe-nitrosyl and N-nitroso compounds were present at high micromolar levels under normoxia and increased further after anoxia and reoxygenation, suggesting NO generation from nitrite catalysed by deoxygenated haemoglobin, which in turtle had a higher nitrite reductase activity than in hypoxia-intolerant species. Taken together, these data indicate constitutively high circulating levels of NO metabolites and significant increases in blood NO after anoxia and reoxygenation that may contribute to the complex physiological response in the extreme anoxia tolerance of Trachemys turtles.
Experience, corpulence and decision making in ant foraging
Authors: Robinson Elva J. H. , Feinerman Ofer , Franks Nigel R.
Published: July 2012

Social groups are structured by the decisions of their members. Social insects typically divide labour: some decide to stay in the nest while others forage for the colony. Two sources of information individuals may use when deciding whether to forage are their own experience of recent task performance and their own physiology, e.g. fat reserves (corpulence). The former is primarily personal information; the latter may give an indication of the food reserves of the whole colony. These factors are hard to separate because typically leaner individuals are also more experienced foragers. We designed an experiment to determine whether foraging specialisation is physiological or experience based (or both). We invented a system of automatic doors controlled by radio-tag information to manipulate task access and decouple these two sources of information. Our results show that when information from corpulence and recent experience conflict, ants behave only in accordance with their corpulence. However, among ants physiologically inclined to forage (less corpulent ants), recent experience of success positively influenced their propensity to forage again. Hence, foraging is organised via long-term physiological differences among individuals resulting in a relatively stable response threshold distribution, with fine-tuning provided by short-term learning processes. Through these simple rules, colonies can organise their foraging effort both robustly and flexibly.
Genetic knockdown of a single organic anion transporter alters the expression of functionally related genes in Malpighian tubules ofDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Chahine Sarah , Campos Ana , O'Donnell Michael J.
Published: July 2012

Insects excrete a wide variety of toxins via the Malpighian (renal) tubules. Previous studies have implicated three transporters in the secretion of the organic anion (OA) methotrexate (MTX) by the Drosophila Malpighian tubule: Drosophila multidrug resistance-associated protein (dMRP, CG6214), a multidrug efflux transporter (MET, CG30344), and an organic anion transporting polypeptide 58Dc (OATP58Dc, CG3380). RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown and P-element insertion mutation of single OA transporter genes were used to evaluate the importance of these three putative transporters in the secretion of MTX by the Malpighian tubules of Drosophila melanogaster. A major finding is that genetic knockdown of a single OA transporter gene leads to reductions in the expression of at least one other OA transporter gene and in secretion of MTX by Malpighian tubules isolated from flies reared on a standard diet. The pattern of changes indicates that decreases in MTX secretion do not correspond to decreases in dMRP expression in all of the RNAi lines. Genetic knockdown of a single OA transporter gene also alters the extent of upregulation of multiple OA transporter genes in the tubules in response to dietary MTX. Knockdown of dMRP is associated with a decrease in MET expression but an increase in OATP expression when flies are reared on MTX-enriched diet. Our results indicate that dMRP and MET are not the dominant MTX transporters in the tubules when flies are reared on MTX-enriched diets. At least one additional transporter, and possibly OATP, are required for MTX secretion. The implications of our results for studies using genetic knockdown techniques to identify OA transporters in whole tissues such as Malpighian tubules are discussed.
Rhinosporidiosis affecting multiple parts of the body
Authors: Mallick Anowar Ali , Majhi Tapas Kumar , Pal Dilip Kumar
Published: July 2012

Rhinosporidiosis is a rare chronic granulomatous condition caused by a fungus ( Rhinosporidium seeberi). It has been seen mainly in southern India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. This is the first published report of a patient with multiple rhinosporidiosis. He had lesions in the nares, in multiple areas of the skin, in the external urethral meatus, glans of penis and the perineum.
“The Foot on Which He Limps”: Jean Gerson and the Rehabilitation of Jean de Meun in Arsenal 3339
Authors: Walters Lori J.
Published: July 2012

In this paper I study the portrayal of Jean de Meun in Arsenal 3339, an early fifteenth-century manuscript collection in which the Rose precedes Jean’s Testament , Codicille , and Tresor ou Sept articles de la foi . I marshal manuscript evidence to show how the person who masterminded the production of Arsenal 3339 refuted certain of the reproaches leveled against Jean de Meun in the 1401–1403 Debate about the Roman de la Rose . They were, in effect, that he had erred on key theological points and had moreover employed questionable instructional methods. Although the Arsenal mastermind, whom I provisionally identify as its compiler, objects to the way that Jean as Rose author had portrayed himself by means of a negative persona, Jean “Clopinel,” which can be roughly translated as “Jean who limps,” he nevertheless declines to join with Jean Gerson and Christine de Pizan to consign the book to the flames. I make the case that the compiler was an early fifteenth-century reader exceptionally well versed in the Rose , the Debate documents, and Gerson’s sermons, who, by expertly designing the collection, seeks to rehabilitate Jean’s professional reputation in response to criticisms lodged by his detractors in the Debate.
Feuding, Factionalism and Fictions of National Identity: Reconsidering Charles VII’s Armagnacs
Authors: Adams Tracy
Published: July 2012

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent call for a debate on national identity generated controversy in France. I use this controversy as a point of departure from which to re-examine the nineteenth-century myth of nationalism that casts the Armagnacs, supporters of Charles VII, as protonationalists. If the type of nationalism that the Armagnacs represented possesses any didactic force today, it is as a negative exemplum. Based on contemporary chronicle representations of the faction revealing how it understood itself and how it was viewed by its enemies, I argue that the Armagnacs are better seen as members of a feuding faction than as early nationalists to conclude that recent debate over national identity would be well served by acknowledging from the outset the fictive nature of what the History of France relates about the trajectory towards national unity and the perennial disagreement over who is French and who is not.
Dismantling Rushmores: Field Notes from the Life of a Twenty-first-Century Novelist
Authors: Lethem Jonathan
Published: July 2012

A self-proclaimed elephant-termite confronts some of our long-standing literary assumptions, and argues that rather than erecting monuments we should seek abundance.
Are You Happy?
Authors: Birkerts Sven
Published: July 2012

An innocuous morning e-mail provokes an extended contemplation. Can having no money, no resources, and no hope make you the happiest person alive?
The Night Side
Authors: Kennedy Thomas E.
Published: July 2012

In the shadow of his father’s dashed hopes, a boy sheds his Catholic upbringing and embraces a new canon of Joyce and Dostoyevsky, whiskey, vintage porn, and writing.
Something Like the Resurrection
Authors: Shipstead Maggie
Published: July 2012

Agnes wanted to die bravely, to show her children how she trusted in God so they might also trust in God, but they were making it difficult.
History: Its Place in a Liberal Education
Authors: Kohn Hans
Published: July 2012

In his public lecture delivered in 1943 at Smith College, in Northamp­ton, Massachusetts, and addressed to the Conference of Headmistresses Association of the East, Hans Kohn examines the general question of the place of history in liberal arts education. However, the core of his lecture is occupied with an attempt to explain the contemporaneous crisis of World War II and to chart the promises and dangers of an awakened sense of identity and nationalism in the situation of the war. The lecture includes a reflection on the arch of crisis from World War I and hopes for democracy through World War II, as well as the need to defend democracy against the odds of modern times. Публикуемая на английском языке лекция Ханса Кона "История и ее место в преподавании свободных искусств и наук" была прочитана в 1943 году в Смит Колледже на заседании Ассоциации директрис школ Восточного побережья США. В этой лекции Кон обсуждает общий вопрос о месте истории в высшем образовании и общественной роли историка. Центральная часть лекции посвящена попытке объяснить происхождение Второй мировой войны и наметить картину возмож­ностей и опасностей в связи с проснувшимся чувством патриотизма и национализма. Кон также рассуждает о континууме кризиса, начав­шемся в годы Первой мировой войны, и о разочаровании в торжестве демократии в межвоенный период. Он говорит о необходимости защиты демократии перед лицом противоречивых тенденций современности.
Мифологизированная “война”*
Authors: Земба Анджей
Published: July 2012

In another review of The Second Polish–Ukrainian War, 1942–1947 by Volodymyr V'iatrovych, the Polish historian Andrzej Ziȩba dismisses V'iatrovych's conclusions about the nature of the Ukrainian–Polish conflict during World War II and criticizes his conceptual approaches. Ziȩba ad­dresses in detail V'iatrovych's highly selective treatment of other historians' works and his manipulation of primary sources. In particular, V'iatrovych rejects oral history as a legitimate source of historical analysis, even though only this category of sources can shed light on the experiences of the Polish civilian population that fell victim to the political ambitions of Ukrainian nationalists. Instead, V'iatrovych puts unreserved trust in sources produced by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian In­surgent Army (UPA). This approach allows the discourse to switch from the issue of responsibility for horrifying mass violence to the abstract level of a "war" between two political entities, Poland and Ukraine (which V'iatrovych effectively equates with the Bandera wing of the OUN). As a result, Ziȩba maintains, the book under review amounts to little more than a reproduc­tion of the perpetrators' perspective on the genocidal act and represents an escape from historical realities into the realm of nationalizing myths. The Second Polish–Ukrainian War, in Ziȩba's opinion, also demonstrates how little progress has been achieved in Ukrainian historiographical reflection on the genocide of the Polish population since the time of World War II, while the book's enthusiastic reception in Ukraine indicates that the denial of Ukrainian responsibility, however historically unsustainable, is still a highly popular approach, especially in Western Ukraine.
Последняя статья Анатолия Ремнева. Незаконченное обсуждение
Authors: Вишленкова Елена
Published: July 2012

Elena Vishlenkova recalls the emergence of the idea for Anatoly Remnev's study of the debates surrounding the founding of the first Siberian University. She offers excerpts from e-mail exchanges about Remnev's study. In her own e-mail, she discusses the interpretation of the Siberian University and its location as a reflection of the mental mapping of Siberia between Europe and Asia. In his response to Vishlenkova's e-mail, Remnev stresses that his major interest was to explore how paradoxically the interests of authority and of the Siberian regionalists coincided in the discussion of opening the first Siberian University. He also expressed an interest in comparing the case of Siberian University with similar developments elsewhere in the Russian empire as well as in the colonies of the Western empires.
A Tribute to Anatoly Remnev
Authors: Hagen Mark von
Published: July 2012

In his essay dedicated to the memory of the Russian historian Anatoly Remnev, Mark von Hagen recounts the history of their common involve­ment in the collaborative international research project to study regions and peripheries in the history of the Russian Empire. He recollects that these encounters took place in a very different setting for the field of Russian studies in the United States. Von Hagen has more in common with Russian historians from different regions of Russia in thinking and rethinking the master narrative of Russian history than with most of his U.S. colleagues. The essay touches on the historiographic factors that made such affinity possible. The essay also covers the history of exchanges between von Hagen and Remnev on the issues of overlooked commonalities in the history of the Ukrainian particularist movement and Siberian oblastnichestvo .

Марк фон Хаген начинает свои воспоминания с летней школы (Владимир, 1997), где он впервые встретился с Анатолием Ремневым. Хаген тогда только начинал свои исследования истории Украины, но его интерес к этому региону отчасти сформировался под влиянием занятий сибирским областничеством. Ремнев начинал формулировать свою регионалистскую парадигму непосредственно на основе изучения сибирской истории в составе империи. Общность интересов стала основой для долговременного сотрудничества и дружбы. Со временем фон Хаген понял, что по методологическим вопросам, по подходам к феноменам империи, нации и колониальности у него гораздо больше общего с Ремневым, чем с большинством американских коллег-русистов. Не случайно, вместе с Ремневым (и повлиявшим на них обоих Андреасом Каппелером) они вошли в редакционный совет Ab Imperio . Фон Хаген пишет о значении международного исследовательского проекта "Империи и регионы", который он совместно с Ремневым и Джейн Бурбанк задумали и реализовали и который завершился выходом сборника под их редакцией (The Russian Empire: Space, People, Power. Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2007). Он также предлагает свое видение работ Ремнева в контексте новой имперской истории и указывает на то, что феномен Ремнева свидетельствует о том, что историческая наука успешно развивается и за пределами Москвы и Петербурга.
The Concept of “Korean Religion” and Religious Studies in Korea
Authors: Kim Chongsuh
Published: July 2012

“Korean Religion” is often thought to be a simple sum of various religion like Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity and “new religions” in Korea. However, it might be more accurate to say that it is what the unique Korean religious mind has manifested and transformed in the framework of particular religious traditions during a particular time. In a time of modernization, the concept of Korean religion above all has become largely reduced and purified through social differentiation. It has also become popularized and has taken on distinctively global traits beyond its Asian provincialism. “Korean Religious Studies” in its process of becoming concretized since the 20th century has regarded the aspects of Korean Religion such as basic religiosity, universality formed through comparison, and indigenous peculiarity as its core research themes. In the future, we can expect that Korean Religious Studies will actively share a horizon of comparison with studies that are based on religious experiences of East Asian countries including China and Japan. Moreover, it will participate in the restructuring of world religious studies, while at the same time pursuing a more profound identity of Korean Religion.
A Slippery, Changing Concept: How Korean New Religions Define Religion
Authors: Baker Don
Published: July 2012

The term “religion” is relatively new to Korea, having being introduced at the end of the 19th century. Since it is an imported term, it still is a rather loose fit for the various organizations and phenomena in Korea that outsiders often label as religious, since not all such organizations or phenomena meet all of the criteria often used to determine what is and what is not religious. Moreover, governments in Korea have often tried to limit the religion label to “respectable” religions, those with organizational structures that made them more amenable to government control. At the same time, many new religions have tried to avoid the religion label because they see it as implying an exclusive rather than an inclusive community. Religion, therefore, remains a problematic term in Korea, lacking agreement regarding how it should be applied.
Religion as a Moving Target: Keynote Address for "International Conference on Korean Religions in Inter-Cultural and Global Contexts"
Authors: Walraven Boudewijn
Published: July 2012

Religion is a moving target in the sense that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is and does; hence the numerous definitional problems. It is also a moving target in the sense that the elements that constitute religion are not stable, and are subject to kaleidoscopic changes. Conventional labels such as shamanism, Buddhism and Confucianism tend to distract our attention from these changes and instabilities. They become associated with certain standard concepts, which may have little to do with the actual practice of their believers or are equally present in the conceptual world of the adherents of other religions. Over the years these labels cover different realities and the distinctions between them may become so vague that it becomes difficult to classify certain phenomena under one of these rubrics. Korea's religious history shows, for instance, that so-called "Confucian values" were propagated by Buddhist songs, and that the core of these values, the virtues of filial piety and loyalty to the throne, by the middle of the nineteenth century had ceased to be "Confucian" in any meaningful way, having become generally accepted by people from whatever religious conviction. In practice, a constant process of reassembling and reconstituting takes place, which means that not too much value should be assigned to the origin or authenticity of religious phenomena, and that a notion such as syncretism becomes useless as a distinguishing characteristic.
Kyŏnggi Southerners' Notion of Heaven and Its Influence on Tasan's Theory of Human Nature
Authors: Chung So-Yi
Published: July 2012

Tasan Chŏng Yag-yong 茶山 丁若鏞 is in large part interpreted as either 1) pro-Catholic under the guise of Confucianism or, 2) a primitive, 'original' Confucian with no deep relevance to Western Learning. The notion of a personified Heaven, or 'a lord above' (上帝), in Tasan's work naturally provokes the image of the God of Western religion or the fearful Heaven of ancient Confucianism, which in turn causes researchers to assume that such a view was held only by those who were against Neo-Confucianism or even "pro-Catholic" (親西派). What is interesting, however, is that the writings of Kyŏnggi Southerners - the faction to which Tasan ideologically belonged, who were neither against Neo-Confucianism nor even anti-Catholic (攻西派), make frequent reference to a personified Heaven with power and authority. This article first reviews how Tasan's contemporaries envisioned Heaven by examining the letters and manuscripts of such Kyŏnggi Southerners as Ch'ae Che-gong 蔡濟恭, An Chŏng-bok 安鼎福 and Yi Ka-hwan 李家煥. It shall be demonstrated that a number of thinkers before Tasan had already described such key notions as an 'inclination' (嗜好) towards goodness as the true nature (本性) of Heaven. The second part of this article describes Tasan's theory of human mind, especially the three elements of its immaterial core, namely, nature (性), capability (才), and implementation (行事). It will be argued that Tasan's explanation of the human mind bears a striking resemblance to the traits of Heaven as narrated by the Kyŏnggi Southerners previously examined. The final part explores the significance of Heaven in the worldview of Kyŏnggi Southerners and the philosophy of Tasan. For them, Heaven was not an omnipotent being waiting to judge our lives after death, but the object of a 'humane relationship' (人倫) - like a father, a king, or a teacher, along with all their accompanying strengths and weaknesses.
Publication of Buddhist Literary Texts: The Publication and Popularization of Mantra Collections and Buddhist Ritual Texts in the Late Chosŏn Dynasty
Authors: Nam Hee-sook
Published: July 2012

It is commonly maintained by scholars of Chosŏn era Buddhism that the Chosŏn Dynasty’s enforcement of the sungyu ŏkpul 崇儒抑佛 (“promote Confucianism, reject Buddhism”) policy resulted in a Buddhism that was barely able to maintain itself on the periphery of society. However, even amidst this policy of official exclusion, Korean Buddhism of the period continued to develop internally and to put down deeper roots among the commoner classes, in contrast to its strong ties to the aristocratic classes during the Three Kingdoms and Koryŏ eras. This paper examines this transformation of the character of Chosŏn Buddhism through the phenomenon of scripture publication. A study of the quantities and types of Buddhist writings published during this period makes it possible to both ascertain the general trend of Buddhist publications and to speculate on the ideological currents, belief trends and social and religious demands of the period.s
Twenty Years After: Rock Music and National Rock in Hungary
Authors: Kürti László
Published: July 2012

This article explores an underresearched topic in popular musical studies, the changes in the Hungarian popular music scene since the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and situates that research in a comparative perspective. It highlights some of the more obvious and less recognized developments: in particular, special attention is given to the ways in which the new "national rock" developed and was ideologized in the past two decades. The relationship of this new music and the socioeconomic and political changes that have taken place since the establishment of democracy and multi-party politics is also considered.
Sovereignty and Democracy: Constructions and Contradictions in Russia and Beyond
Authors: Sakwa Richard
Published: July 2012

Despite arguments about the erosion of sovereignty through globalization and other universalistic processes, the assertion of state sovereignty remains one of the main driving forces of international politics to this day. State sovereignty has limits, but the boundaries of this in the contemporary world remain shifting and negotiable. Even in regions of advanced international integration the problem of state autonomy over what are considered areas of vital national concerns remains at the center of national political discourse. In newly independent states the issue takes particularly acute forms. In Russia the assertion of state sovereignty represented the founding act of the new state. In the last decade the many facets of sovereignty became constitutive of a particular type of regime consolidation. The autonomy of the state internally and the assertion of sovereign subjectivity in international affairs became mutually reinforcing. While the term "sovereign democracy" was always contested and has now become anachronistic, it reflected the deeper concerns of the regime and society. The debate also revealed the weakening of the civic republican current in Russian politics, which had been so strong at the time of the Soviet collapse, and thus reflects the erosion of effective democratic participation as a whole. Once again, popular sovereignty has been displaced by a sovereign regime.
New Pronatalism?: Family Policy in Post-Soviet Russia
Authors: Chernova Zhanna
Published: July 2012

This paper analyzes contemporary Russian family policy, focusing on the state's ideological orientation and the political measures it has taken with regard to the family as a social institution. Documents representing official and normative discourse of family policy in contemporary Russia serve here as data for the study. The paper identifies stages of the formation and realization of Russian family policy. Analysis of these stages shows that neither at the level of ideology nor in terms of specific tools of implementation is this policy coherent. A pronatalist strategy ensures that many real problems faced by families stay on the periphery of family policy. This paper maintains that Russian family policy should take into account the diversity of modern forms of family relationships and increase societal support for citizens with family responsibilities, not limited only to family financial support.
Framing Colonial Manliness, Domesticity, and Empire in “Página suelta” and “Oscuramente”
Authors: Tolliver Joyce
Published: July 2012

A pesar del creciente interés crítico en los cuentos de Pardo Bazán, no se han estudiado detenidamente sus representaciones cuentísticas de la situación colonial del fin de siglo. Este ensayo examina dos de estos cuentos, que presentan una visión de la masculinidad, del militarismo y de los conflictos coloniales que nos lleva a cuestionar su clasificación como simple propaganda. “Página suelta” presenta una visión del soldado español en Filipinas que privilegia las características correspondientes a la “masculinidad contra tipo” (Mosse) y que investiga la naturaleza doméstica del colonialismo. En “Oscuramente”, un narrador anónimo retrata la angustia de un joven “afeminado”, dedicado al cuidado de su hermanita, cuando se le manda dejar su aldea para ir a batallar en Cuba. Simultáneamente, retrata la crueldad de los aldeanos ante la masculinidad alternativa del joven. En los dos cuentos, la estructura narrativa destaca la naturaleza inestable tanto de las nociones tradicionales de la masculinidad como de las relaciones coloniales. En el fondo, nuestro análisis de los dos textos señala la necesidad de una atención mucho más detenida a las representaciones textuales de los últimos años del imperio español.
La persistencia de la nación: el país como signo en la nueva narrativa venezolana
Authors: Gomes Miguel
Published: July 2012

Este artículo postula que, en el marco de los debates sobre la mundialización en el terreno de la crítica literaria y cultural, existen casos latinoamericanos donde difícilmente podría descartarse lo nacional como referente. El artículo centra su discusión en las reacciones de numerosos narradores venezolanos ante el tipo de nacionalismo que ha dominado los discursos oficiales de su país desde 1998 hasta nuestros días y en cómo dichas reacciones difieren desde el punto de vista temático y elocutivo. Luego de un repaso de conjunto de la narrativa venezolana de los últimos años, el artículo examina detenidamente dos colecciones recientes de relatos publicadas por autores de distintas generaciones y grados de consagración diversos: Crímenes de Alberto Barrera Tyszka y Cállate poco a poco de Enza García Arreaza. El fenómeno del chavismo es visto en este artículo como un factor importante en mantener a la narrativa venezolana actual enfocada sobre una problemática nacional a la vez que esta narrativa da testimonio de la mundialización experimentada también por Venezuela. La narrativa de Barrera Tyszka se caracteriza por la representación expresionista de la decadencia y la de García Arreaza por la exploración de lo abyecto y lo monstruoso en el contexto político del autoritarismo.
Literatura, nación y globalización en Hispanoamérica: explorando el horizonte post-nacional
Authors: Guerrero Gustavo
Published: July 2012

Este artículo examina la cuestión de si las literaturas latinoamericanas actuales se pueden seguir considerando como literaturas nacionales. A través de un vistazo al panorama de las editoriales en España y América Latina, reflexiona además sobre la fragmentación de los mercados y su efecto sobre los géneros y estilos de los autores actuales, y postula el surgimiento de un quehacer literario más individualizado y menos sujeto a consideraciones de identidad nacional o regional. El artículo discute las obras de una amplia gama de autores hispanoamericanos de las generaciones surgidas entre 1990 y 2010, enmarcando su discusión en el contexto de observaciones de Roger Bartra y Jesús Martín-Barbero en torno a la crítica del nacionalismo como ideología y el resquebrajamiento del papel de la nación como totalidad trascendente. Toma nota además de que, junto al nacionalismo oficialista promovido por los estados nacionales, ha existido una tendencia autónoma e individualista entre los escritores, fruto de la tradición moderna, que los lleva a buscarse un lugar propio al margen de la sociedad burguesa. Los autores posnacionales de hoy día, señala el artículo, se caracterizan no tanto por el deseo de ampliar las fronteras de lo nacional como por rechazarlas.
"Il tue l' Ame sans sejour": Locating the Subject in a Chanson Spirituelle of Marguerite de Navarre
Authors: Kendrick Jeff
Published: July 2012

Marguerite de Navarre's understudied Chansons spirituelles incorporate an underlying fascination with how a work of literature constructs and simultaneously undermines (or kills) its subject. Many of the chansons accomplish this by describing the narrator's spiritual experience and religious longing for death and rebirth. Multiple layers of meaning, however, also allow the poems to be read as an exploration of the blurry spaces between authority and authorship in the text, between the self and God and between literary subject and object. The texts present a contradictory and multi-layered image of an emergent self that leaves the reader simultaneously more and less sure of the soul's relationship to the divine. What promises to be a simple contemplation of Christ's worthiness to be desired becomes a boundary-blurring dialogue that erases the limits between self and the Divine Other to whom it purports to point. The idea of authority and who has the right to speak in the text lies at the heart of this enigma. Marguerite's theology at once dominates and submits to her poetry. The image of the self moves from object to subject and back to object as it seeks to differentiate itself from and define itself in relation to God. Using and manipulating pre-established poetic codes from the medieval tradition, the text creates a circle that further pixilates an already protean image of the self. Unable to resolve its true position in the poem, the soul is forced to accept the constraints placed on it from within and without. Ultimately, the soul fails in its attempt at complete unity with Christ, but this failure only serves to highlight a basic personal awareness of 'self' in the poem and confirms the view of the idea of 'subjectivity' as elusive, indeterminate and prone to conflict.
Nightbirds, Nightmares and the Mothers' Smile: Art and Psychoanalysis in Sarah Kofman's Life-Writing
Authors: Clementi F. K.
Published: July 2012

This article explores Sarah Kofman's last text, her Holocaust memoir Rue Ordener, Rue Labat (1994). While Kofman's career was famously devoted to deciphering the legacy of the "Great Fathers" of Western culture and to an incessant dialogue with Sigmund Freud, her memoir centers exclusively on the legacy of mothers: it is Kofman's study of herself as a child in the grip of terror, the threat of death, and the s/mothering love of two women—her Jewish mother and the French woman who saved them both. This article examines how the exceptionality of the Holocaust exploded the Familienroman (the psychic family drama) in ways that Freud could have not anticipated. I demonstrate how the same way in which Freud had used Leonardo da Vinci's painting of a double motherhood to prove his point about a son's Oedipal crisis and the origin of his art, Kofman used the same image to interpret her story of double motherhood, victimhood and the origin of her art and creativity.
Humour, engagement et création littéraire chez Anne Garréta
Authors: Vivero García María Dolores
Published: July 2012

Depuis son premier roman Sphinx , où le questionnement autour du genre nous confronte aux conventions culturelles et sociales, l'oeuvre d'Anne Garréta allie les jeux de la création littéraire à la contestation de l'ordre dominant. Dans cet article, nous analysons ces jeux scripturaux et nous mettons en évidence les enjeux de cette écriture qui vise à engendrer la réflexion tout d'abord sur ellemême et sur les limites entre fiction et réalité. Nous nous arrêtons ensuite sur son livre Pour en finir avec le genre humain afin de souligner comment les jeux littéraires s'articulent, chez Garréta, à la critique, par un rire corrosif et décapant, de l'ordre social et politique post-moderne.
RNA Degradation inSaccharomyces cerevisae
Authors: Parker Roy
Published: July 2012

All RNA species in yeast cells are subject to turnover. Work over the past 20 years has defined degradation mechanisms for messenger RNAs, transfer RNAs, ribosomal RNAs, and noncoding RNAs. In addition, numerous quality control mechanisms that target aberrant RNAs have been identified. Generally, each decay mechanism contains factors that funnel RNA substrates to abundant exo- and/or endonucleases. Key issues for future work include determining the mechanisms that control the specificity of RNA degradation and how RNA degradation processes interact with translation, RNA transport, and other cellular processes.
Characteristics of stable a-Si:H Schottoky cells fabricated by suppressing cluster deposition
Authors: Shiratani Masaharu , Hatozaki Kosuke , Hashimoto Yuji , Kim Yeonwon , Seo Hyunwoong , Kamataki Kunihiro , Uchida Giichiro , Itagaki Naho , Koga Kazunori
Published: July 2012

We have developed a cluster-eliminating filter which reduces amount of amorphous silicon nanoparticles (clusters) incorporated into a-Si:H films. We have applied the filter to fabricate a-Si:H Schottky solar cells. The cells show a high initial fill factor FF=0.563 and a high stabilized value after light soaking FF=0.552 which light-induced degradation was quite low value of 1.95 %.