bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Barriers to school attendance and gender inequality: Empirical evidence from a sample of Ghanaian schoolchildren
Authors: Wolf Sharon , McCoy Dana C , Godfrey Erin B
Published: February 2016

Governments in sub-Saharan Africa have made marked efforts to increase school enrollment. Yet attendance and completion rates remain low, particularly for girls. This study examines the reasons that school children do not attend school in a sample of Ghanaian students. Girls were more likely to miss school because a family member was sick, whereas boys were more likely to miss school due to work. Caregivers’ inability to pay school fees and belief that it is better to educate boys than girls were related to lower school attendance for girls but not for boys. Implications of the findings to inform efforts to improve educational access for all children are discussed.
Jewish-Israeli attitudes towards the Iranian football team during the 2014 World Cup tournament
Authors: Samuel-Azran Tal , Galily Yair , Lavie-Dinur Amit , Karniel Yuval
Published: February 2016

To contribute to analysis of the interplay between sport and politics, this study examines Jewish-Israeli attitudes towards the Iranian football team during the 2014 World Cup tournament. A survey amongst a representative sample of the Jewish-Israeli population reveals that the Iranian team was the least favored team to win the games but, at the same time, young and secular respondents were more likely than other groups to believe that the Iranian team is not controlled by their government. An analysis of Israeli sportscasters’ comments during Iran’s games reveals that the sportscasters regularly referred to the Iranian team as representatives of a terror state. In contrast, an analysis of online mentions of the Iranian team reveals that many of the comments were positive and empathized with Iranian soccer fans. The findings strengthen the notion that sport and politics are fused, but also illuminate that the World Cup games promoted realms, albeit peripheral, of less dichotomist stereotyping.
Adverse cardiovascular events in acute coronary syndrome with indications for anticoagulation
Authors: Knight Stacey , McCubrey Raymond O. , Yuan Zhong , Woller Scott C. , Horne Benjamin D. , Bunch T. Jared , Le Viet T. , Mills Roger M. , Muhlestein Joseph B.
Published: February 2016

Objectives:

Randomized acute coronary syndrome (ACS) trials testing various antithrombotic (AT) regimens have largely excluded patients with coexisting conditions and indications for anticoagulation (AC). The purpose of this study is to examine the 2-year clinical outcomes of patients with ACS with indication for AC due to venous thromboembolism (VTE) during hospitalization for the ACS event or a prior or new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) with a CHADS2 (Congestive heart failure; Hypertension; Age; Diabetes; previous ischemic Stroke) score ⩾2.

Methods:

ACS patients with AC indication from 2004 to 2009 were identified ( n = 619). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the primary efficacy outcome of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke. The primary explanatory variable was at-discharge antithrombotic strategy [single antiplatelet ± AC, dual antiplatelet (DAP) ± AC or AC only; referent DAP + AC].

Results:

A total of 261 (42.2%) patients had a MACE event. AT strategy was not a significant factor for MACE (all p > 0.09). The factors associated with MACE were high mortality risk score [hazard ratio (HR)=1.87, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39– 2.52; p < 0.001), prior MI (HR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.03–2.01; p= 0.033) and presentation of ST elevation MI (HR = 2.70, 95% CI: 1.61–4.51; p < 0.001) or non-ST elevation MI (HR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.15–2.49; p < 0.001) compared with angina.

Conclusions:

In this real world observational study, the at-discharge AT strategy was not significantly associated with the 2-year risk of MACE. These findings do not negate the need for randomized trials to generate evidence-based approaches to management of this important population.
Bringing a Perspective From Outside the Field
Authors: Adelson Jill L. , Kelcey Benjamin
Published: February 2016

In this commentary of “Evaluating the Gifted Program of an Urban School District Using a Modified Regression Discontinuity Design” by Davis, Engberg, Epple, Sieg, and Zimmer, we examine the background of the study, critique the methods used, and discuss the results and implications. The study used a fuzzy regression discontinuity design based on an IQ score predicted by the processing speed index and working memory index sub-scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition (WISC-4) with the outcome of 1- and 2-year retention in the urban district. Results indicate a statistically significant positive relationship between gifted identification and retention, particularly for students not receiving a meal subsidy. Although this study has novelty, particularly in the outcome and in the use of this design in gifted education research, the focus on IQ scores is a methodological and practical limitation, as is the focus on results for higher income families.
Attributes Influencing Insulin Pen Preference Among Caregivers and Patients With Diabetes Who Require Greater Than 20 Units of Mealtime Insulin
Authors: Wang Tao , Conrad Kenneth A. , van Brunt Kate , Rees Tina M.
Published: February 2016

Background:

This study compared patient preference for Humalog® KwikPen™ 200 units/mL (insulin lispro; hereafter, IL 200 pen; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) versus the Humalog KwikPen 100 units/mL (insulin lispro; hereafter, IL 100 pen; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) in patients with diabetes requiring >20 units of mealtime insulin and diabetes caregivers. This study also determined which attributes had the greatest influence on pen preference selection.

Methods:

In this 2-period, crossover, simulated-use study, 106 participants were randomized to 1 of 8 sequences that varied the pen order (IL 100 pen or IL 200 pen) and dosing order (15 units = low dose or 50 units = high dose) for a total of 4 simulated injections. Participants then completed a self-administered questionnaire to select their overall preference between the 2 pens and then rated the importance of 11 pen attributes in contributing to their overall preference.

Results:

Of the 90 participants expressing an overall preference, significantly more preferred the IL 200 pen to the IL 100 pen (IL 200 pen: 80 respondents; IL 100 pen: 10 respondents; 95% confidence interval [0.81, 0.94], P < .0001). The total amount of insulin in the pen, the ease in pressing the injection button, and the amount of fluid injected were key attributes influencing IL 200 pen preference.

Conclusions:

Based on these key attributes, the IL 200 pen was significantly preferred over the IL 100 pen by patients with diabetes who require >20 daily mealtime insulin units or diabetes caregivers and may improve the injection experience for these patients.
Developing Partnerships With Businesses to Support Job Training for Youth With Disabilities in Singapore
Authors: Scheef Andrew R. , Barrio Brenda L. , Poppen Marcus I.
Published: February 2016

Under-employment for individuals with disabilities is a worldwide epidemic, which Singapore has addressed by significantly increasing employment rates for this population. Providing work experiences for youth with disabilities at community-based job sites has been shown to increase positive post-school employment outcomes. To provide these opportunities, employment specialists benefit from developing partnerships with businesses. For this study, 14 Singaporean employment specialists, from five different schools and one government agency, were interviewed to better understand strategies utilized to nurture these valuable partnerships with businesses. Data suggest effective partnerships include (a) direct support for employers, (b) job matching, (c) job customization, (d) involving businesses in the school community, and (e) parent involvement. Implications and recommendations for future research are also discussed.
Distant Relations: The Affordances of Email in Interorganizational Conflict
Authors: Bülow Anne Marie , Lee Joyce Y. H. , Panteli Niki
Published: February 2016

This article explores the role of email in the ambiguous circumstances of an established international partnership that is developing into competition. Using the naturally occurring interaction of a longitudinal ethnographic study, we study the ensuing task and relationship conflicts through the communication medium. Results show that the conflict is facilitated by email, not as an unfortunate side-effect but as a strategic choice of distance, partly for passive protection but also for active control of the interaction. We use the results to chart the multiple situated identities of the communicators that are made salient in their virtual interaction. The double aspect of social and organizational contexts is shown to have an effect on different issues, such as organizational authority at the home organization, the buyer-supplier relationship, nonnative language use, and norms of communication style in the interaction.
Tooth Loss Increases the Risk of Diminished Cognitive Function
Authors: Cerutti-Kopplin D. , Feine J. , Padilha D.M. , de Souza R.F. , Ahmadi M. , Rompré P. , Booij L. , Emami E.
Published: February 2016

Emerging evidence suggests that oral health is associated with cognitive function. This review aims to systematically assess this association in adult populations via prospective cohort study designs. Eligible study reports were identified by searching the MEDLINE (via Ovoid), EMBASE, PsycoINFO, and Cochrane Library databases. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random effects model. From 1,251 identified articles, 10 were included in the systematic review and 8 in the meta-analysis. Random effects analysis showed, with statistically low heterogeneity, that individuals with suboptimal dentition (<20 teeth) were at a 20% higher risk for developing cognitive decline (HR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.14 to 1.40) and dementia (HR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.43) than those with optimal dentition (≥20 teeth). Studies on the association between periodontal disease and cognitive status showed conflicting results. Within the limits of the quality of published evidence, this meta-analysis lends further support to the hypothesis that tooth loss is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.

Knowledge Transfer Statement: Based on the published literature, the results of this study show that the risk for cognitive impairment and dementia increases with loss of teeth. This information adds to the evidence showing links between oral and general health and suggests that oral health strategies aimed to preserve teeth may be important in reducing risk of systemic disease.
Screw- vs. Cement-retained Implant-supported Prosthesis in Partially Edentulous Patients
Authors: Ramamoorthi M. , Esfandiari S.
Published: February 2016

Understanding the morbidity events, incidence, and cost associated with each type of retention system used for implant supported prosthesis will help the clinician in better decision making. This study assessed the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the screw- and cement-retained implant-supported single crown and fixed partial denture for the replacement of teeth in partially edentulous jaws, from a health services perspective. A systematic literature search conducted in 10 databases, complemented by 4 journal databases and International Association for Dental Research abstracts, identified 92 studies on the single crown and 40 studies on the fixed partial denture. Minor and major technical complication events, as well as failure events, were extracted from strong- and medium-quality studies. Studies based on similar designs were pooled with a random-effects Poisson regression model. A decision tree was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness over a 15-y period posttreatment. The initial and maintenance costs to treat technical complication events were based on an American Dental Association survey of 2011 to 2012. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was used to examine the uncertainty in the data input parameters. Clinical evidence generated from the meta-analysis suggested no statistical difference between the 2 retention systems. The cost-effectiveness is presented as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. The evidence from this report suggests that cement retention is the more cost-effective strategy as compared with screw retention prosthesis.

Knowledge Transfer Statement: Evidence generated by this study will help clinicians make an appropriate cost-effective treatment decision in choosing the retention system for partially edentulous patients.
The Effectiveness of Sonography in the Detection of Diaphragmatic Paralysis
Authors: Duncan Kelly
Published: February 2016

Unilateral or bilateral paralysis of the diaphragm is an acquired dysfunction caused by injury or trauma to the phrenic nerve. Patients will often experience symptoms of respiratory distress, and severe cases can be life-threatening. Though not widely used, sonography, specifically M-mode imaging, has proven to be convenient and effective in the detection of this condition. A case is presented describing the sonographic techniques used to evaluate this entity.
The Value of Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology by Cytopathologists in the Diagnosis of Major Salivary Gland Tumors
Authors: Negahban Shahrzad , Shirian Sadegh , Khademi Bijan , Oryan Ahmad , Sadoughifar Roshanak , Mohammad Mohammadian-Panah , Aledavood Azita , Daneshbod Khosrow , Daneshbod Yayha
Published: February 2016

Because of the typical sonographic appearances of many salivary gland masses, as well as the normal appearance and anatomy of the glands, differentiation of salivary glands tumors based only on clinical and imaging criteria is difficult. We compared the utility, safety, specificity, and accuracy of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (UG-FNAC) in the detection of nonpalpable tumors in the major salivary glands. A retrospective review was done of a 5-year experience of 102 consecutive patients undergoing UG-FNAC. Clinical opinion, FNA results, and final pathologic findings were examined. Histological evaluation showed 29 malignant tumors and 54 benign lesions (neoplasms and nonneoplastic lesions). The cytologic findings were nondiagnostic in 19 cases (18.6%), true negative in 50 (49%), true positive in 20 (19.6%), false negative in 9 (8.8%), and false-positive in 4 (3.9%) cases for detecting malignant tumors. Six of 20 (30%) malignant tumors (true positive) and 41 of 50 (82%) benign lesions (true negative) were classified accurately. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 84.3%, 68.9%, and 92.6%, respectively. Ultrasound guided FNAC was found to be highly specific for malignancy and its sensitivity for malignancy was good. It is a reliable and accurate diagnostic technique with minimal complications and easy to perform with high specificity 92.5% (95% CI: 82.09%-97.90%). It should be the preferred primary approach for initial investigation in diagnosing salivary gland tumors.
Fluid-induced, shear stress-regulated extracellular matrix and matrix metalloproteinase genes expression on human annulus fibrosus cells
Authors: Chou Po-Hsin , Wang Shih-Tien , Yen Meng-Hua , Liu Chien-Lin , Chang Ming-Chau , Lee Oscar Kuang-Sheng
Published: February 2016

Background

Mechanical loading plays an important role in the regulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis as well as pathogenesis of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. The human annulus fibrosus (hAF) in the IVD is subjected to contact shear stress during body motion. However, the effects of shear stress on hAF cells remain unclear. This aim of the study was to investigate the expression of the ECM (COLI, COLIII and aggrecan) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-1, MMP-3 and ADAMTS-4) genes in hAF cells following fluid-induced shear stress in a custom-fabricated bio-microfluidic device.

Methods

hAF cells were harvested from degenerated disc tissues in routine spine surgery, staged by magnetic resonance imaging, expanded in monolayers and then seeded onto the bio-microfluidic device. The experimental groups were subjected to 1 and 10 dyne/cm2 shear stress for 4 h, and no shear stress was applied to the control group. We used real time polymerase chain reaction for gene expression.

Results

Shear stress of 1 dyne/cm2 exerted an anabolic effect on COLI and COLIII genes and catabolic effects on the aggrecan gene, while 10 dyne/cm2 had an anabolic effect on the COLI gene and a catabolic effect on COLIII and aggrecan genes. The COLI gene was upregulated in a stress-dependent manner. Expression of MMP-1 was significantly higher in the 10 dyne/cm2 group compared to the control group (P < 0.05), but was similar in the control and 1 dyne/cm2 groups. Expression of MMP-3 and ADAMTS-4 were similar in all three groups.

Conclusion

Taken together, hAF cells responded to shear stress. The findings help us understand and clarify the effects of shear stress on IVD degeneration as well as the development of a new therapeutic strategy for IVD degeneration.
High-quality draft genome sequence of the Thermus amyloliquefaciens type strain YIM 77409T with an incomplete denitrification pathway
Authors: Zhou En-Min , Murugapiran Senthil K. , Mefferd Chrisabelle C. , Liu Lan , Xian Wen-Dong , Yin Yi-Rui , Ming Hong , Yu Tian-Tian , Huntemann Marcel , Clum Alicia , Pillay Manoj , Palaniappan Krishnaveni , Varghese Neha , Mikhailova Natalia , Stamatis Dimitrios , Reddy T. B. K. , Ngan Chew Yee , Daum Chris , Shapiro Nicole , Markowitz Victor , Ivanova Natalia , Spunde Alexander , Kyrpides Nikos , Woyke Tanja , Li Wen-Jun , Hedlund Brian P.
Published: February 2016

Thermus amyloliquefaciens type strain YIM 77409T is a thermophilic, Gram-negative, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterium isolated from Niujie Hot Spring in Eryuan County, Yunnan Province, southwest China. In the present study we describe the features of strain YIM 77409T together with its genome sequence and annotation. The genome is 2,160,855 bp long and consists of 6 scaffolds with 67.4 % average GC content. A total of 2,313 genes were predicted, comprising 2,257 protein-coding and 56 RNA genes. The genome is predicted to encode a complete glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, and tricarboxylic acid cycle. Additionally, a large number of transporters and enzymes for heterotrophy highlight the broad heterotrophic lifestyle of this organism. A denitrification gene cluster included genes predicted to encode enzymes for the sequential reduction of nitrate to nitrous oxide, consistent with the incomplete denitrification phenotype of this strain.
Draft genome sequence of chloride-tolerant Leptospirillum ferriphilum Sp-Cl from industrial bioleaching operations in northern Chile
Authors: Issotta Francisco , Galleguillos Pedro A. , Moya-Beltrán Ana , Davis-Belmar Carol S. , Rautenbach George , Covarrubias Paulo C. , Acosta Mauricio , Ossandon Francisco J. , Contador Yasna , Holmes David S. , Marín-Eliantonio Sabrina , Quatrini Raquel , Demergasso Cecilia
Published: February 2016

Leptospirillum ferriphilum Sp-Cl is a Gram negative, thermotolerant, curved, rod-shaped bacterium, isolated from an industrial bioleaching operation in northern Chile, where chalcocite is the major copper mineral and copper hydroxychloride atacamite is present in variable proportions in the ore. This strain has unique features as compared to the other members of the species, namely resistance to elevated concentrations of chloride, sulfate and metals. Basic microbiological features and genomic properties of this biotechnologically relevant strain are described in this work. The 2,475,669 bp draft genome is arranged into 74 scaffolds of 74 contigs. A total of 48 RNA genes and 2,834 protein coding genes were predicted from its annotation; 55 % of these were assigned a putative function. Release of the genome sequence of this strain will provide further understanding of the mechanisms used by acidophilic bacteria to endure high osmotic stress and high chloride levels and of the role of chloride-tolerant iron-oxidizers in industrial bioleaching operations.
Boutique to Booming: Medicare Managed Care and the Private Path to Policy Change
Authors: Kelly Andrew S.
Published: February 2016

In 2014, Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment surpassed 30 percent of eligible beneficiaries. Twenty-five years earlier, enrollment hovered at just 3 percent. The expansion of private Medicare plans presents a puzzling instance of policy change within Medicare—a program long held to be a quintessential case of policy stasis. This article investigates the policy features that made Medicare susceptible to this dramatic policy shift, as well as the processes by which the initial policy change remade the politics of Medicare and solidified the MA program. The first enrollment surge occurred in the absence of a proximate legislative or administrative change. Instead, increased spending and expanded benefits were the result of the interaction of new market dynamics with an existing legislative framework—demonstrating an expansionary form of policy drift. The 1982 Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act created a policy space that gave the new and lightly controlled managed care industry considerable operational discretion. As the interests of the government's private partners changed in response to new market dynamics, a change occurred in the output and performance of the Medicare managed care program. As enrollment and spending increased, Medicare's politics were remade by the political empowerment of the managed care industry and the creation of a new subconstituency of beneficiaries.
Path Dependency and the Politics of Socialized Health Care
Authors: Brady David , Marquardt Susanne , Gauchat Gordon , Reynolds Megan M.
Published: February 2016

Rich democracies exhibit vast cross-national and historical variation in the socialization of health care. Yet, cross-national analyses remain relatively rare in the health policy literature, and health care remains relatively neglected in the welfare state literature. We analyze pooled time series models of the public share of total health spending for eighteen rich democracies from 1960 to 2010. Building on path dependency theory, we present a strategy for modeling the relationship between the initial 1960 public share and the current public share. We also examine two contrasting accounts for how the 1960 public share interacts with conventional welfare state predictors: the self-reinforcing hypothesis expecting positive feedbacks and the counteracting hypothesis expecting negative feedbacks. We demonstrate that most of the variation from 1960 to 2010 in the public share can be explained by a country's initial value in 1960. This 1960 value has a large significant effect in models of 1961–2010, and including the 1960 value alters the coefficients of conventional welfare state predictors. To investigate the mechanism whereby prior social policy influences public opinion about current social policy, we use the 2006 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). This analysis confirms that the 1960 values predict individual preferences for government spending on health. Returning to the pooled time series, we demonstrate that the 1960 values interact significantly with several conventional welfare state predictors. Some interactions support the self-reinforcing hypothesis, while others support the counteracting hypothesis. Ultimately, this study illustrates how historical legacies of social policy exert substantial influence on the subsequent politics of social policy.
Does Anything Work to Reduce Obesity? (Yes, Modestly)
Authors: Cawley John
Published: February 2016

A large number and range of policies to address the obesity epidemic have been implemented. However, the prevalence of obesity has continued to rise, or at best has leveled off, and many individual interventions have had disappointing results. This has led some people to question whether anything works to prevent or reduce obesity. In this essay I review the evidence on the effectiveness of antiobesity programs. Although some programs have had negligible effects, others have had small beneficial effects on diet, physical activity, and weight. Nutrition labels on packaged foods and calorie labels on menus have led to healthful reformulations of foods. Offering incentives for children to choose healthy foods, and for adults to go to the gym, have proven effective at changing behaviors. Precommitment mechanisms such as deposit contracts for weight loss and bariatric surgery are associated with weight loss but may not be ideal solutions for the majority of obese individuals. Certain comprehensive school-based interventions to change children's diets and promote physical activity have proved cost-effective. There is no magic bullet that will solve the problem of obesity, but numerous policies with modest beneficial effects, if enacted jointly, could result in meaningful change.
Cell polarity defines three distinct domains in pancreatic beta cells
Authors: Gan Wan J. , Zavortink Michael , Ludick Christine , Templin Rachel , Webb Robyn , Webb Richard , Ma Wei , Poronnik Philip , Parton Robert G. , Gaisano Herbert Y. , Shewan Annette M. , Thorn Peter
Published: February 2016

The structural organisation of pancreatic beta cells in the islets of Langerhans is relatively unknown. Here, using 3D two-photon, 3D confocal and 3D block-face serial electron microscopy, we demonstrate a consistent in situ polarisation of beta cells and define three distinct cell-surface domains. An apical domain located at the vascular apogee of beta cells, defined by the location of PAR-3 and ZO-1, delineates an extracellular space into which adjacent beta cells project their primary cilia. A separate lateral domain, is enriched in scribble and Dlg, and colocalises with E-cadherin and GLUT2. Finally, a distinct basal domain, where the beta cells contact the islet vasculature, is enriched in synaptic scaffold proteins such as liprin. This 3D analysis of beta cells within intact islets, and the definition of distinct domains, provides new insights in to understanding beta cell structure and function.
A note on a conjecture for the distance Laplacian matrix
Authors: Marques da Silva Celso , Aguieiras Alvarez de Freitas Maria , Raposo Del-Vecchio Renata
Published: February 2016

In this note, the graphs of order n having the largest distance Laplacian eigenvalue of multiplicity n â2 are characterized. In particular, it is shown that if the largest eigenvalue of the distance Laplacian matrix of a connected graph G of order n has multiplicity n â 2, then G = S_n or G = K_(p,p), where n = 2p. This resolves a conjecture proposed by M. Aouchiche and P. Hansen in [M. Aouchiche and P. Hansen. A Laplacian for the distance matrix of a graph. Czechoslovak Mathematical Journal, 64(3):751â761, 2014.]. Moreover, it is proved that if G has P_5 as an induced subgraph then the multiplicity of the largest eigenvalue of the distance Laplacian matrix of G is less than n â 3.
Historiophobia or the Enslavement of History: The Role of the 1948 Ethnic Cleansing in the Contemporary Peace Process
Authors: Ilan Pappe
Published: February 2016

This article examines closely the role of the 1948 Palestinian catastrophe in the contemporary peace process. It argues that peace mediation in the conflict regarded history in general an obstacle for progress and the Palestinian victimization in 1948 as a marginal and irrelevant issue. This peace process, which ignored the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 and its impact on the contemporary reality, failed dismally. The article argues that only a courageous encounter with the crime committed in 1948 and an authentic search for rectifying it through restitutive justice, and not retribution, can open up a genuine process of reconciliation in Palestine.
Arab American Writers, the Mahjar Press, and the Palestine Issue
Authors: Edmund Ghareeb  , Jenab Tutunji
Published: February 2016

This article reviews the attitudes of leading Arab Americans, as expressed in the Arab press in the United States (Sahafat Al-Mahjar as well as various anthologies in Arabic or
English) toward Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, and the idea of a Jewish home in Palestine. The noted literary figure Mikhail Naimy sounded the alarm in 1915 (two years before
the Balfour Declaration was issued) that moves were afoot to convert Palestine into a Jewish state, at the expense of the Palestinians, who, to his surprise, were strangely silent
on the issue at the time. Another celebrated man of letters, Amin Rihani, was deeply engaged with the subject, and looked for avenues of reconciliation with variants of Zionism,
except for “state-Zionism.” Rihani and others rose to the defense of Palestinians, particularly when they came under attack in the US press. Interestingly, one can
trace an evolution in the thinking of the best writers among Arab Americans from total rejection of the Balfour Declaration toward the acceptance of a Jewish home in Palestine so
long as it did not aspire to transform this haven (which appeared to have come into existence by the late thirties) from a refuge into a Jewish state.
The Moynihan Report Resurrected
Authors: Klug Sam
Published: February 2016

In March 1965, the Office of Policy Planning and Research at the United States Department of Labor produced a report entitled “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.” Written by an assistant secretary at the Department of Labor with social scientific training but with a short publishing history on race and racism, the document launched a national debate so powerful that it simply became known as the Moynihan Report, after its author, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Holding Still
Authors: Phillips Maxine
Published: February 2016

The Savino family poses for the camera. Nine-year-old Maria (my mother) stares ahead, a small hand resting on her father’s shoulder. Her pregnant mother, Rosa, grasps the other; the younger children fidget. My grandfather Donato holds baby Tony, the first child born in America.
Save the Children
Authors: Joyce Kathryn
Published: February 2016

Beginning in the early 2000s, American evangelicals became one of the most powerful forces in international adoption, lining up devout believers to follow the biblical mandate that Christians care for “orphans and widows in their distress.” This call would become a movement that launched major conferences, spawned a small library of books on “adoption theology,” and changed the complexion of many conservative U.S. churches.
Hate Expectations
Authors: Hale Benjamin
Published: February 2016

Jonathan Franzen’s animus toward the internet is the fire under the feet of his latest novel, Purity. The novel, like Franzen, hates the internet, and simultaneously tries to embody his idea of its antidote: an intelligent page-turner; a ripping good read in which contemporary anxieties about the future of privacy and information lie immediately under the surface without ever being didactically articulated.
A Book as Big as Life
Authors: Tanenbaum Laura
Published: February 2016

City on Fire , Garth Risk Hallberg’s novel about New York in the 1970s, is a big and elaborately constructed book with 944 pages, dozens of characters, seven sections, six interludes, a prologue, and a postscript. Each section opens with images and quotations, drawn from works ranging from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass to Walter Benjamin’s The Arcades Project. Hallberg seems inspired by the democratic scope of these projects, and by the belief that everyone’s story, everyone’s point of view, should matter.
Socialism in America
Authors: Meyerson Harold
Published: February 2016

During what had to be the many years that Jack Ross spent researching and writing his 800-plus-page history of the American Socialist Party, it could not possibly have occurred to him that its publication would coincide with a presidential campaign by a self-proclaimed democratic socialist to whom millions of Americans, if the polls are to be believed and the crowds given credence, would rally. The Bernie Boom has taken everyone—Bernie Sanders himself very much included—by surprise
The Care Gap
Authors: Chen Michelle
Published: February 2016

For all her working life, educating young children has been LiAne Flakes’s calling.When she started working in the 1990s, practically anyone could get a job teaching preschool. “Now,” the Florida-based early childhood teacher said in a recent interview for the Nation, “you’re being required to go to school.” But while she’s proud of how her field has matured, she’s disappointed that her wages have lagged. “I think we’re just as important as an elementary school teacher,” she says, “we’re just as important as a high school [teacher] or college professor.” There’s a bitter subtext: she currently earns $12.50 an hour, or less than two-thirds the pay rate of a typical public highschool teacher.
Camus on Trial
Authors: Isaac Jeffrey C.
Published: February 2016

“Mama’s still alive today.” With these words Kamel Daoud begins his brilliant short novel Meursault, contre-enquête, rendered in John Cullen’s fine English translation as The Meursault Investigation. Daoud is an Algerian author writing in French, and his novel—announced in its title and very first line—is a creative reworking of Albert Camus’s classic 1942 novella L’Étranger (The Stranger). In France the novel has received prestigious literary awards. In the United States it has been reviewed in a range of prominent outlets (including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, the Nation, and NPR). And in Algeria, its 2013 publication by Éditions Barzakh, a secular, liberal publishing house, thrust it into the middle of a complex cultural war in which critical intellectuals find themselves caught between authoritarian regime elites and Islamist militants.
The Right vs. The Family
Authors: Hochschild Arlie
Published: February 2016

Americans have long been stuck in an unfinished revolution for women’s equality. Even though women now make up nearly half the workforce, we are “leaning in” to jobs with longer hours and without a national system of good care for our young.
Chasing Capital in Hard Times: Monroe Edwards, Slavery, and Sovereignty in the Panicked Atlantic
Authors: Luskey Brian P.
Published: February 2016

The speculations in slavery and antislavery that the slave trading swindler Monroe Edwards made in the late 1830s and early 1840s reveal the ways some aspiring men identified—in the confluence of slave emancipation, Texas’s Revolution, and the aftermath of financial panic—opportunities to renew their speculations in hard times, when credit and capital were hard to come by and hedges for protecting risk-takers were being reconstructed. Bust-time speculators chased capital in its economic, diplomatic, and cultural dimensions, crafting representations of value that they hoped would be validated by contemporaries and thus open new paths to success. These speculators—Texas diplomats, slave traders, and abolitionists—circulated around the panicked Atlantic, founding quests for success on their efforts to navigate the debate about slavery, the uncertainties surrounding national sovereignty, and capitalism’s convulsions. These speculations in hard times helped to shape the politics of slavery at a critical moment of diplomatic intrigue, and their effects reverberated into the flush times that followed.
In a State of Slavery: Black Servitude in Illinois, 1800–1830
Authors: Heerman M. Scott
Published: February 2016

Between 1800 and 1830, slavery occupied an uncertain place in Illinois’s economy, law, and society. Although nominally a free state, masters in Illinois continued to hold in slavery African Americans brought to the state during the eighteenth century. Additionally masters relied on a system of indentured servitude to try and hold African Americans as defacto slaves. Yet turning a slave into a lifelong servant proved to be more difficult than it first seemed. Enslaved people seized on the negotiations inherent to signing a servitude contract to inch closer to freedom. Once masters put their servants and slaves to work in the state’s economy, unfree African Americans found tiny openings in the system of contract bondage. Relying on mobility, petty earnings, and relationships they forged with the state’s free residents, African Americans continued to struggle against their unfree condition even after they were held as servants. In time these conflicts over slavery and servitude played out in the state’s courts. Jurists in Illinois carefully balanced the laws with existing practices in Illinois and carved out a legal justification for the system of unfree labor.
Saxon? German? American?: Negotiating Germanness and Belonging in the United States, 1935–1939
Authors: Wilbers Christian
Published: February 2016

Using a series of letters written by Saxon immigrants living in the United States during the 1930s, this article complicates prevailing views about German ethnic consciousness after World War I. The author argues that immigrants, far from simply being “assimilated” Americans, continued to draw upon their heritage to negotiate challenges unique to their particular group. Subjected to pressures from increasingly exclusive German and American nationalisms, they tried to define Germanness as compatible with the “American Way of Life,” even though that eventually proved to be impossible.
Law, Modernity, Crisis: German Free Lawyers, American Legal Realists, and the Transatlantic Turn to “Life,” 1903–1933
Authors: Schmidt Katharina Isabel
Published: February 2016

Scholars have long recognized American jurists’ idiosyncratic commitment to a prudent, pragmatic, and political style of legal reasoning. The origins of this style have been linked to the legacy of the most American legal movement of all: the realists. Conversely, German jurists’ doctrinal, idealistic, and apolitical approach can be tied to the relative failure of Germany’s equivalent movement: the free lawyers. How to account for the seemingly inverse fate of realistic jurisprudential reform projects on both sides of the Atlantic? In this paper I employ transnational history to shed light on this particular instance of German-American divergence.
Sardonic Recurrence and Barking Dogs in Julio Cortázar’s Library of Tangos
Authors: Miller Marilyn G.
Published: February 2016

The noteworthy relationship between music and text in the works of Julio Cortázar has typically been studied in terms of his predilection for jazz. This essay takes up a diverse assortment of references to tango in his oeuvre , paying special attention to the tangopoemas in the 1984 volume Salvo el crepúsculo . Using as its starting point his description of tango’s effect in the Argentine listener as “sardonic recurrence,” the essay considers Cortázar’s varied acknowledgments of tango’s role in his creative life subsequent to his relocation to Paris. It surveys these instances as proof of the preferential place classic tango lyrics occupy in Cortázar’s memory and reference library.
“So as Not to Arrive”: The Object-Theater of Late Jamesian Consciousness
Authors: Cui Lily
Published: February 2016

Henry James’s late style in the House of Fiction metaphor and The Golden Bowl elicits a dual reading practice demanding both formal analysis that traces the dematerialization of objects in the fictional world and a reifying attitude that permits these objects a material presence around which scenes are constructed. At key moments, consciousness is simultaneously metaphorized as an object and theatricalized as a scene in which the conscious character interacts with the original object-metaphor. If the materiality and even figurality of these objects are unstable, it is in this phenomenal instability that these moments’ affective intensity originates.
Henry James, the Robber Barons, and The Golden Bowl
Authors: Wilmarth Connie
Published: February 2016

This essay explores some consequences of James’s representation of Adam Verver as a capitalist innocent of his profits. The character is examined in the light of the formal program for the novel described in the preface. The Golden Bowl is shown to question at the same time that it affirms a narrative practice in which facts and histories are effaced.
Postnational Possibilities in Two YA Novels about Taiwan: The American Trace
Authors: Murphy Emily
Published: February 2016

This paper begins from the assumption that the beginning of the twenty-first century marked the end of an era defined by the “myth of American exceptionalism.” Following Brian T. Edwards and Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar’s contention that it is the return of the “American trace” that will give rise to a postnational identity, this paper offers a critical reading of Chang Ta-Chun’s Wild Child and Grace Lin’s Dumpling Days . As the analysis of these two young adult novels demonstrates, the figure of the child plays a pivotal role in the ongoing project to envision a “new” American identity, offering opportunities to chart the global exchanges between nations and to question twentieth-century models of global citizenship.
The “Exasperating Predecessor”: Pocock on Gibbon and Voltaire
Authors: Force Pierre
Published: February 2016

This article offers a critical discussion of Pocock’s analysis of the relationship between Gibbon and Voltaire, and particularly the extent to which Decline and Fall was inspired by Voltaire’s Essai sur les moeurs . It shows that “Momigliano’s hypothesis” about the divorce of philosophy and erudition and their reconciliation in Gibbon was initially a commentary by Momigliano on Voltaire’s historical work. It argues that the “Momiglianian model” plays a central role in Pocock’s argument in Barbarism and Religion . In that sense, understanding Gibbon’s highly ambiguous appraisal of Voltaire helps us understand the overall purpose of Decline and Fall .
‘‘Cities Surrounded by a Wall from the Time of Joshua Son of Nun’’ as a Rabbinic Response to the Roman Pomerium
Authors: Ben-Eliyahu Eyal
Published: February 2016

This paper examines a manifestation of the Jewish perception of space against the backdrop of the Roman conquest, the destruction of the Temple, and the conversion of Jerusalem into the Roman colonia, Aelia Capitolina. I suggest that the rabbinic notion of cities “surrounded by walls,” and their attribution to Joshua, reflects a Jewish reaction to the Roman presence in the land of Israel and the Roman appropriation of the legacy of the cities they subjugated. A consideration of Roman law sheds light on the puzzling attribution of walls to the time of Joshua son of Nun in two rabbinic halakhot: the sale of a house in a walled city and the celebration of Purim and the reading of the scroll of Esther on 15 Adar in walled cities. I suggest that the rabbis introduced the features of a boundary and founding by an ancient figure in order to voice their opposition to the appropriation of Jerusalem by Hadrian and additional Roman emperors, which they marked by founding a pomerium. In addition to the polemical use of the concept of “walled cities from the time of Joshua,” we also find what appears to be application of features of the sanctity of the pomerium to laws of walled cities. This proposed model of polemic, on the one hand, and dialogue, on the other, exemplifies the diverse response by Jews in the land of Israel, and later the province Syria–Palestine, to Roman culture and religion.
Rabbi David Oppenheim on Trial: Turks, Titles, and Tribute in Counter-Reformation Prague
Authors: Miller Michael Laurence
Published: February 2016

In the midst of a larger dispute with Prague’s first coffee-boiler, Rabbi David Oppenheim was accused of overseeing the transfer of money from the Habsburg Empire to Jewish communities in the Land of Israel (which was under Ottoman rule). In the fraught atmosphere of the Counter-Reformation and the Ottoman-Habsburg wars, this Jewish practice was cast as treasonous; it not only drained money from state coffers but also transferred it to an enemy land. This article examines the trial against Oppenheim, exploring intimations of Jewish-Turkish collusion and paying particular attention to the “Jewish money-transfer affair” and its repercussions. This article also explores subsequent debates and controversies about the collection of funds in the Habsburg Empire for distribution in the Land of Israel.
Wreaking Judgment on Mount Esau: Christianity in R. Kook’s Thought
Authors: Johanan Karma Ben
Published: February 2016

The critique of Christianity is a central theme in R. Kook’s writings; more central than is usually perceived. R. Kook’s anti-Christian sentiment is nourished both by the traditional contempt toward Christianity prevalent in the Kabbalistic literature and by the critique of Christianity raised by modern German philosophers, in particular Hegel and Nietzsche. These bodies of literature are synthesized by R. Kook to produce his own systematic attack on Christianity. At the core of R. Kook’s critique of Christianity stands the notion that the “spirit” of Christianity is, in essence, a negation of Israel and all that it stands for. Christianity, per R. Kook, constantly strives to disrupt the divine plan of salvation by impeding the people of Israel from fulfilling their universal role. While history is seen by R. Kook as constantly marching towards salvation, Christianity is presented as an historical deterioration, even a deviation from the divine plan. The idea that Christianity embodies the negation of Israel lends it special stature in R. Kook’s philosophy. As such, Christianity cannot be elevated and purified like any other phenomenon, but is rather worthy of total rejection. Therefore, even if the Christian religious institution could somehow be refined--as R. Kook suggests in several places--the anti-Israel idea behind the Christian religion should ultimately be blotted out. Essentially, I will argue, R. Kook treats Christianity as something that exceeds the boundaries of his universalism and is worthy of the strongest loathing.
Implementation of Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois
Authors: Paprocki Thomas John
Published: February 2016

The diocesan bishop should promulgate his decisions regarding the implementation of the motu proprio Mitis iudex Dominus Iesus by issuing a general executory decree, which according to canon 31 serves “to determine more precisely the methods to be observed in applying the law.” In his the revision of the canonical process for the declaration of the nullity of marriage in the Code of Canon Law, Pope Francis has not only taken steps to make these processes more readily available to those in need of the judicial function of the Church, but has also called for diocesan bishops themselves to be more personally involved in the exercise of their judicial power of governance as described in canon 391. In this way, diocesan bishops more fully exercise their threefold munera to teach, govern and sanctify the People of God entrusted to them as successors of the apostles by divine institution. Bishop Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois explains how he implements Mitis iudex in his diocese.
The Pastoral Dimension of the Office of Papal Representatives
Authors: Broglio Timothy P.
Published: February 2016

The article is taken from notes for the Provost Lecture given at The Catholic University of America on 19 March 2015. After a very brief review of the use of emissaries by the Holy Father, Archbishop Broglio examines the motu proprio Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum and its implementation over the last forty-six years. While the document is examined, the author places an important emphasis on the pastoral nature of this service and its lived reality in the Church. The canonical analysis also includes a presentation of the legislation that has changed the original document, but these changes are relatively insignificant considering the dramatic changes in the world around the Church since 1969.