bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reflection for learning:
Authors: McKinney Pamela , Sen Barbara
Published: April 2013

Reflective writing has long been acknowledged as an important aspect of personal and professional development. There is increasing evidence of the use of reflective writing assessments and activities in the context of information literacy (IL) education, particular in higher education (HE). Writing reflectively can help students to understand their own IL development and engage in deeper learning. Students on an undergraduate business intelligence module at the University of Sheffield completed a piece of reflective writing about their IL development as part of the assessed work for the module. This writing was mapped against a model of reflection and a model of IL to understand the depth and spread of reflection offered by these students. The results showed that students had chosen to reflect in some but not all areas of IL, and the depth of reflection was variable. However, the aspects of IL where students were reflective illustrated that the learning outcomes of the module had been met. Mapping reflective statements against models of reflection was found to aid in the analysis and assessment of the reflective writing. The analysis undertaken by the researchers supported their own reflective practice as scholars of teaching and learning.
New taxa and notes of some described species of scaly crickets (Orthoptera: Mogoplistidae: Mogoplistinae) from Singapore
Authors: TAN MING KAI , INGRISCH SIGFRID
Published: April 2013

Two new species of Mogoplistinae from Singapore are described: Micrornebius kopisua sp. n. and Ornebius insculpta sp. n. The first record and description of males of Ornebius albipalpus Ingrisch, 2006 and females of Ornebius tampines Tan & Robillard, 2012 are given. The occurrence of Ornebius rufonigrus Ingrisch, 1987 in Singapore is confirmed while confirming the identity of another Ornebius species from Singapore with Ornebius cf. pullus Ingrisch, 2006 requires further investigation. A key to the species of Mogoplistinae from Singapore is provided.
Externally Forced and Internally Generated Decadal Climate Variability Associated with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation
Authors: Meehl Gerald A. , Hu Aixue , Arblaster Julie M. , Fasullo John , Trenberth Kevin E.
Published: April 2013

Globally averaged surface air temperatures in some decades show rapid increases (accelerated warming decades), and in other decades there is no warming trend (hiatus decades). A previous study showed that the net energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere of about 1 W m−2 is associated with greater increases of deep ocean heat content below 750 m during the hiatus decades, while there is little globally averaged surface temperature increase or warming in the upper ocean layers. Here the authors examine processes involved with accelerated warming decades and address the relative roles of external forcing from increasing greenhouse gases and internally generated decadal climate variability associated with interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO). Model results from the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4), show that accelerated warming decades are characterized by rapid warming of globally averaged surface air temperature, greater increases of heat content in the upper ocean layers, and less heat content increase in the deep ocean, opposite to the hiatus decades. In addition to contributions from processes potentially linked to Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), the positive phase of the IPO, adding to the response to external forcing, is usually associated with accelerated warming decades. Conversely, hiatus decades typically occur with the negative phase of the IPO, when warming from the external forcing is overwhelmed by internally generated cooling in the tropical Pacific. Internally generated hiatus periods of up to 15 years with zero global warming trend are present in the future climate simulations. This suggests that there is a chance that the current observed hiatus could extend for several more years.
Comparing Survey Results Obtained via Mobile Devices and Computers
Authors: de Bruijne Marika , Wijnant Arnaud
Published: April 2013

With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablet PCs (tablets) equipped with mobile browsers, the possibilities to administer surveys via mobile devices have expanded. To investigate the possible mode effect on answer behavior, results are compared between a mobile device–assisted web survey and a computer-assisted web survey. First, a premeasurement in the CentERpanel is conducted to analyze the user group of mobile devices. Second, the users are randomly allocated one of the three conditions: (1) conventional computer-assisted web survey, (2) hybrid version: a computer-assisted web survey with a layout similar to mobile web survey, and (3) mobile web survey. Special attention is given to the design of the mobile web questionnaire, taking small screen size, and typical functionalities for touchscreens into account. The findings suggest that survey completion on mobile devices need not lead to different results than on computers, but one should be prepared for a lower response rate and longer survey completion time. Further, the study offers considerations for researchers on survey satisfaction, location during survey completion, and preferred device to access Internet. With adaptations, surveys can be conducted on the newest mobile devices, although new challenges are emerging and further research is called for.
SUNA and red ear syndrome: a new association and pathophysiological considerations
Authors: Lambru Giorgio , Bakar Norazah Abu , Matharu Manjit
Published: April 2013

Red ear syndrome (RES) is characterised by attacks of unilateral or bilateral burning ear pain associated with erythema. Primary and secondary forms have been described. Primary RES appears to have a frequent association with primary headaches especially migraine. Here, we describe the case of a woman with short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform attacks with cranial autonomic symptoms (SUNA) and recurrent episodes of ipsilateral red ear triggerable by cutaneous stimulation. Lamotrigine was beneficial for her SUNA but not for the RES. Both these disorders are extremely rare therefore their coexistence in the same individual may suggest similar pathophysiological mechanisms rather than a chance association.
Identification of genes related to agarwood formation: transcriptome analysis of healthy and wounded tissues of Aquilaria sinensis
Authors: Xu Yanhong , Zhang Zheng , Wang Mengxi , Wei Jianhe , Chen Hongjiang , Gao Zhihui , Sui Chun , Luo Hongmei , Zhang Xingli , Yang Yun , Meng Hui , Li Wenlan
Published: April 2013

Background

Agarwood is an expensive resinous heartwood derived fromAquilariaplants that is widely used in traditional medicines, incense and perfume. Only wounded trees can produce agarwood, and the huge demand for the agarwood products has led allAquilariaspp. being endangered and listed in the Appendix II of the CITES (http://www.cites.org). The major components of agarwood are sesquiterpenes and phenylethyl chromones. Owing to a lack of genomic information, the molecular basis of wound-induced sesquiterpenes biosynthesis and agarwood formation remains unknown.

Results

To identify the primary genes that maybe related to agarwood formation, we sequenced 2 cDNA libraries generated from healthy and woundedA. sinensis(Lour.) Gilg. A total of 89,137 unigenes with an average length of 678.65 bp were obtained, and they were annotated in detail at bioinformatics levels. Of those associated with agarwood formation, 30 putatively encoded enzymes in the sesquiterpene biosynthesis pathway, and a handful of transcription factors and protein kinases were related to wound signal transduction. Three full-length cDNAs of sesquiterpene synthases (ASS1-3) were cloned and expressed inEscherichia coli, and enzyme assays revealed that they are active enzymes, with the major products being δ-guaiene. A methyl jasmonate (MJ) induction experiment revealed that the expression ofASSwas significantly induced by MJ, and the production of sesquiterpenes was elevated accordingly. The expression of some transcription factors and protein kinases, especiallyMYB4,WRKY4,MPKK2andMAPK2, was also induced by MJ and coordinated withASSexpression, suggesting they maybe positive regulators ofASS.

Conclusions

This study provides extensive transcriptome information forAquilariaspp.and valuable clues for elucidating the mechanism of wound-induced agarwood sesquiterpenes biosynthesis and their regulation.
Utility of an alternative bicycle commute route of lower proximity to motorised traffic in decreasing exposure to ultra-fine particles, respiratory symptoms and airway inflammation – a structured exposure experiment
Authors: Cole-Hunter Tom , Jayaratne Rohan , Stewart Ian , Hadaway Matthew , Morawska Lidia , Solomon Colin
Published: April 2013

Background

Bicycle commuting in an urban environment of high air pollution is known to be a potential health risk, especially for susceptible individuals. While risk management strategies aimed to reduce exposure to motorised traffic emissions have been suggested, only limited studies have assessed the utility of such strategies in real-world circumstances.

Objectives

The potential to lower exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP; < 0.1 μm) during bicycle commuting by reducing proximity to motorised traffic was investigated with real-time air pollution and intermittent acute inflammatory measurements in healthy individuals using their typical higher proximity, and an alternative lower proximity, bicycle commute route.

Methods

Thirty-five healthy adults (mean ± SD: age = 39 ± 11 yr; 29% female) completed two return trips, one each in the condition of their typical route (HIGH) and a pre-determined alternative route of lower proximity to motorised traffic (LOW); proximity being determined by the proportion of on-road cycle paths. Particle number concentration (PNC) and diameter (PD) were monitored in-commute in real-time. Acute inflammatory indices of respiratory symptoms (as a scalar of frequency from very low to very high / 1 to 5), lung function and spontaneous sputum (for inflammatory cell analyses) were collected immediately pre-commute, and immediately and three hours post-commute.

Results

In the condition of LOW, compared to in the condition of HIGH, there was a significant decrease in mean PNC (1.91 x e4 ± 0.93 × e4 ppcc vs. 2.95 × e4 ± 1.50 × e4 ppcc; p ≤ 0.001), and the mean frequency of in-commute offensive odour detection (2.1 vs. 2.8; p = 0.019), dust and soot observation (1.7 vs. 2.3; p = 0.038) and nasopharyngeal irritation (1.5 vs. 1.9; p = 0.007). There were no significant differences between LOW and HIGH in the commute distance and duration (12.8 ± 7.1 vs. 12.0 ± 6.9 km and 44 ± 17 vs. 42 ± 17 min, respectively), or other indices of acute airway inflammation.

Conclusions

Exposure to PNC and offensive odour, and nasopharyngeal irritation, can be significantly lowered when utilising a route of lower proximity to motorised traffic whilst bicycle commuting, without significantly affecting commute distance or duration. This may bring health benefits for both healthy and susceptible individuals.
Profiling and annotation of human kidney glomerulus proteome
Authors: Cui Zenyui , Yoshida Yutaka , Xu Bo , Zhang Ying , Nameta Masaaki , Magdeldin Sameh , Makiguchi Tomoo , Ikoma Toshikazu , Fujinaka Hidehiko , Yaoita Eishin , Yamamoto Tadashi
Published: April 2013

Background

The comprehensive analysis of human kidney glomerulus we previously performed using highly purified glomeruli, provided a dataset of 6,686 unique proteins representing 2,966 distinct genes. This dataset, however, contained considerable redundancy resulting from identification criteria under which all the proteins matched with the same set of peptides and its subset were reported as identified proteins. In this study we reanalyzed the raw data using the Mascot search engine and highly stringent criteria in order to select proteins with the highest scores matching peptides with scores exceeding the “Identity Threshold” and one or more unique peptides. This enabled us to exclude proteins with lower scores which only matched the same set of peptides or its subset. This approach provided a high-confidence, non-redundant dataset of identified proteins for extensive profiling, annotation, and comparison with other proteome datasets that can provide biologically relevant knowledge of glomerulus proteome.

Results

Protein identification using the Mascot search engine under highly stringent, computational strategy generated a non-redundant dataset of 1,817 proteins representing 1,478 genes. These proteins were represented by 2-D protein array specifying observed molecular weight and isoelectric point range of identified proteins to demonstrate differences in the observed and calculated physicochemical properties. Characteristics of glomerulus proteome could be illustrated by GO analysis and protein classification. The depth of proteomic analysis was well documented via comparison of the dynamic range of identified proteins with other proteomic analyses of human glomerulus, as well as a high coverage of biologically important pathways. Comparison of glomerulus proteome with human plasma and urine proteomes, provided by comprehensive analysis, suggested the extent and characteristics of proteins contaminated from plasma and excreted into urine, respectively. Among the latter proteins, several were demonstrated to be highly or specifically localized in the glomerulus by cross-reference analysis with the Human Protein Atlas database, and could be biomarker candidates for glomerular injury. Furthermore, comparison of ortholog proteins identified in human and mouse glomeruli suggest some biologically significant differences in glomerulus proteomes between the two species.

Conclusions

A high-confidence, non-redundant dataset of proteins created by comprehensive proteomic analysis could provide a more extensive understanding of human glomerulus proteome and could be useful as a resource for the discovery of biomarkers and disease-relevant proteins.
A randomised controlled trial and mediation analysis of the ‘Healthy Habits’, telephone-based dietary intervention for preschool children
Authors: Fletcher Amanda , Wolfenden Luke , Wyse Rebecca , Bowman Jenny , McElduff Patrick , Duncan Sarah
Published: April 2013

Background

Consumption of non-core foods in childhood is associated with excessive weight gain in childhood. Parents play a vital role in establishing healthy diet behaviours in young children. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a telephone-based intervention in reducing child consumption of non-core foods, and to examine parent and home food environment mediators of change in child consumption.

Methods

The ‘Healthy Habits’ trial utilised a clustered randomised controlled design.

Setting/participants

Parents were recruited from 30 preschools (N = 394 participants, mean age 35.2±5.6 years). Parents randomized to the intervention group received four telephone contacts and print materials. Parents allocated to the control condition receive generic print materials only. Non-core food consumption was assessed using a validated child dietary questionnaire at baseline, 2 and 6 months post recruitment in 2010.

Results

The intervention was effective in reducing child consumption of non-core foods at 2 months (intention to treat analysis: z=-2.83, p<.01), however this effect was not maintained at 6 months. Structural equation modelling using 2 month data indicated that child access to non-core foods in the home and child feeding strategies mediated the effect of the intervention.

Conclusion

The telephone-based intervention shows promise in improving short term dietary behaviour in preschool age children, however further development is needed to sustain the effect in the long-term.

Trial registration

Australian Clinical Trials Registry:ACTRN12609000820202
Modeling biominerals formed by apatites and DNA
Authors: Revilla-López Guillermo , Casanovas Jordi , Bertran Oscar , Turon Pau , Puiggalí Jordi , Alemán Carlos
Published: April 2013

Different aspects of biominerals formed by apatite and DNA have been investigated using computer modeling tools. Firstly, the structure and stability of biominerals in which DNA molecules are embedded into hydroxyapatite and fluoroapatite nanopores have been examined by combining different molecular mechanics methods. After this, the early processes in the nucleation of hydroxyapatite at a DNA template have been investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Results indicate that duplexes of DNA adopting a B double helix can be encapsulated inside nanopores of hydroxyapatite without undergoing significant distortions in the inter-strand hydrogen bonds and the intra-strand stacking. This ability of hydroxyapatite is practically independent of the DNA sequence, which has been attributed to the stabilizing role of the interactions between the calcium atoms of the mineral and the phosphate groups of the biomolecule. In contrast, the fluorine atoms of fluoroapatite induce pronounced structural distortions in the double helix when embedded in a pore of the same dimensions, resulting in the loss of its most relevant characteristics. On the other hand, molecular dynamics simulations have allowed us to observe the formation of calcium phosphate clusters at the surface of the B-DNA template. Electrostatic interactions between the phosphate groups of DNA and Ca2+ have been found to essential for the formation of stable ion complexes, which were the starting point of calcium phosphate clusters by incorporating PO43 from the solution.
Effect of somatic cell count and mastitis pathogens on milk composition in Gyr cows
Authors: Malek dos Reis Carolina Barbosa , Barreiro Juliana Regina , Mestieri Lucinéia , Porcionato Marco Aurélio de Felício , dos Santos Marcos Veiga
Published: April 2013

Background

Gyr cows are well adapted to tropical conditions, resistant to some tropical diseases and have satisfactory milk production. However, Gyr dairy herds have a high prevalence of subclinical mastitis, which negatively affects their milk yield and composition. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the effects of seasonality, mammary quarter location (rear x front), mastitis-causing pathogen species, and somatic cell count (SCC) on milk composition in Gyr cows with mammary quarters as the experimental units and (ii) to evaluate the effects of seasonality and somatic cell count (SCC) on milk composition in Gyr cows with cows as the experimental units. A total of 221 lactating Gyr cows from three commercial dairy farms were selected for this study. Individual foremilk quarter samples and composite milk samples were collected once a month over one year from all lactating cows for analysis of SCC, milk composition, and bacteriological culture.

Results

Subclinical mastitis reduced lactose, nonfat solids and total solids content, but no difference was found in the protein and fat content between infected and uninfected quarters. Seasonality influenced milk composition both in mammary quarters and composite milk samples. Nevertheless, there was no effect of mammary quarter position on milk composition. Mastitis-causing pathogens affected protein, lactose, nonfat solids, and total solids content, but not milk fat content. Somatic cell count levels affected milk composition in both mammary quarters and composite samples of milk.

Conclusions

Intramammary infections in Gyr cows alter milk composition; however, the degree of change depends on the mastitis-causing pathogen. Somatic cell count is negatively associated with reduced lactose and nonfat solids content in milk. Seasonality significantly affects milk composition, in which the concentration of lactose, fat, protein, nonfat solids and total solids differs between dry and wet seasons in Gyr cows.
Post mastectomy linac IMRT irradiation of chest wall and regional nodes: dosimetry data and acute toxicities
Authors: Ma Jinli , Li Jiongyan , Xie Jiang , Chen Jian , Zhu Chuanying , Cai Gang , Zhang Zhen , Guo Xiaomao , Chen Jiayi
Published: April 2013

Background

Conventional post-mastectomy radiation therapy is delivered with tangential fields for chest wall and separate fields for regional nodes. Although chest wall and regional nodes delineation has been discussed with RTOG contouring atlas, CT-based planning to treat chest wall and regional nodes as a whole target has not been widely accepted. We herein discuss the dosimetric characteristics of a linac IMRT technique for treating chest wall and regional nodes as a whole PTV after modified radical mastectomy, and observe acute toxicities following irradiation.

Methods

Patients indicated for PMRT were eligible. Chest wall and supra/infraclavicular region +/−internal mammary nodes were contoured as a whole PTV on planning CT. A simplified linac IMRT plan was designed using either integrated full beams or two segments of half beams split at caudal edge of clavicle head. DVHs were used to evaluate plans. The acute toxicities were followed up regularly.

Results

Totally, 85 patients were enrolled. Of these, 45 had left-sided lesions, and 35 received IMN irradiation. Planning designs yielded 55 integrated and 30 segmented plans, with median number of beams of 8 (6–12). The integrated and segmented plans had similar conformity (1.41±0.14 vs. 1.47±0.15, p=0.053) and homogeneity indexes (0.13±0.01 vs. 0.14±0.02, p=0.069). The percent volume of PTV receiving >110% prescription dose was <5%. As compared to segmented plans, integrated plans typically increased V5 of ipsilateral lung (p=0.005), and heart (p=0.001) in patients with left-sided lesions. Similarly, integrated plans had higher spinal cord Dmax (p=0.009), ipsilateral humeral head (p<0.001), and contralateral lung Dmean (p=0.019). During follow-up, 36 (42%) were identified to have ≥ grade 2 radiation dermatitis (RD). Of these, 35 developed moist desquamation. The median time to onset of moist desquamation was 6 (4–7) weeks from start of RT. The sites of moist desquamation were most frequently occurred in anterior axillary fold (32/35), and secondly chest wall (12/35). The difference in occurrence of ≥ grade 2 RD between integrated and segmented plans was statistically insignificant (X
2=0.35, p=0.55). Only 2 were found to have grade 2 radiation pneumonitis.

Conclusions

The linac IMRT technique applied in PMRT with chest wall and regional nodes as a whole PTV was dosimetrically feasible, and the treatment was proved to be well-tolerated by most patients.
Radiotherapy in the treatment of postoperative chylothorax
Authors: Sziklavari Zsolt , Allgäuer Michael , Hübner Georg , Neu Reiner , Ried Michael , Grosser Christian , Szöke Tamas , Schemm Rudolf , Hofmann Hans-Stefan
Published: April 2013

Background

Chylothorax is characterized by the presence of chyle in the pleural cavity. The healing rate of non-operative treatment varies enormously; the maximum success rate in series is 70%. We investigate the efficacy and outcomes of radiotherapy for postoperative chylothorax.

Methods

Chylothorax was identified based on the quantity and quality of the drainage fluid. Radiation was indicated if the daily chyle flow exceeded 450 ml after complete cessation of oral intake. Radiotherapy consisted of opposed isocentric portals to the mediastinum using 15 MV photon beams from a linear accelerator, a single dose of 1–1.5 Gy, and a maximum of five fractions per week. The radiation target area was the anatomical region between TH3 and TH10 depending on the localization of the resected lobe. The mean doses of the ionizing energy was 8.5 Gy ± 3.5 Gy.

Results

The median start date of the radiation was the fourth day after chylothorax diagnosis. The patients’ mediastinum was radiated an average of six times. Radiotherapy, in combination with dietary restrictions, was successful in all patients. The median time between the end of the radiation and the removal of the chest tube was one day. One patient underwent wound healing by secondary intention. The median time between the end of radiation and discharge was three days, and the overall hospital stay between the chylothorax diagnosis and discharge was 18 days (range: 11–30 days). After a follow-up of six months, no patient experienced chylothorax recurrence.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that radiotherapy in combination with dietary restriction in the treatment of postoperative chylothorax is very safe, rapid and successful. This novel interventional procedure can obviate repeat major thoracic surgery and shorten hospital stays and could be the first choice in the treatment of postthoracotomy chylothorax.
Reconstructive management of the rare bilateral oral submucos fibrosis using nasolabial flap in comparison with free radial forearm flap - a randomised prospective trial
Authors: Faisal Muhammad , Rana Madiha , Shaheen Anjum , Warraich Riaz , Kokemueller Horst , Eckardt André Michael , Gellrich Nils-Claudius , Rana Majeed
Published: April 2013

Background

Oral sub mucous fibrosis is a rare chronic, progressive, pre malignant collagen disorder of oral mucosa in people of Asian descent characterized by trismus, blanching and stiffness of mucosa, burning sensation in mouth and hypomobility of soft palate and tongue with loss of gustatory sensation. Betel nut chewing is the most common etiological agent. Surgery remains the main stay in severe cases and aims at release of fibrotic bands and resurfacing the raw areas with different options. Reconstruction can be done by using nasolabial flap or radial free forearm flap. The purpose of this study was to compare the mouth opening after the reconstruction with either nasolabial flap or radial free forearm flap.

Methods

This study was carried out on fifty (50) patients with oral sub mucous fibrosis. Twenty five (25) of these were reconstructed by nasolabial flap and twenty five (25) were reconstructed by radial free forearm flap. At different intervals of their post-operative visits, they were evaluated for the interincisal distance and the difference between the two groups was assessed.

Results

Average increase in interincisal distance was greater in patients reconstructed with radial free forearm flap compared with patient reconstructed by nasolabial flap i.e. 18.96 mm and 15.16 mm respectively with ‘P’ value > 0.05.

Conclusion

Based on this study radial forearm free flap is a superior method compared to transposition of nasolabial flap to cover the surgical wound of oral submucous fibrosis.
Inverse association of long-acting natriuretic peptide with metabolic syndrome in congestive heart failure patients
Authors: Wang Ji-Hung , Lee Chung-Jen , Hsieh Jen-Che , Chen Yu-Chih , Hsu Bang-Gee
Published: April 2013

Aims

Long-acting natriuretic peptide (LANP) is one of the peptide hormones in atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) pro-hormone. Low levels of natriuretic peptide may lead to reduced lipolysis and excessive weight gain in obese patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fasting serum LANP level and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) among congestive heart failure (CHF) patients.

Methods

Fasting blood samples were obtained from 186 patients with normal renal function in cardiac clinic outpatients. CHF defined by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association 2005 Guidelines. MetS and its components were defined using diagnostic criteria from the International Diabetes Federation.

Results

Ninety-eight patients (52.7%) had CHF. There was a tendency of increased fasting LANP levels as the NYHA CHF functional classes increased (p = 0.002). Forty-six of the CHF patients (46.9%) had MetS. Fasting LANP level negatively correlated with MetS among CHF patients (p < 0.001). Univariate linear regression analysis showed that BUN (p = 0.026) positively correlated with fasting serum LANP levels, while body weight (p = 0.009), BMI (p = 0.004), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; p = 0.024) and HOMA-β (p = 0.001) negatively correlated with fasting serum LANP levels among the CHF patients. Multivariate forward stepwise linear regression analysis of the significant variables showed that the HOMA-β (R2 change = 0.292, p < 0.001) and HOMA-IR (R2 change = 0.081, p = 0.019) were independent predictors of fasting serum LANP levels in CHF patients.

Conclusions

LANP level is significantly reduced in CHF patients affected by MetS. HOMA-β and HOMA-IR were independent predictors of serum LANP levels in CHF patients.
Was Valerius Maximus a Hack?
Authors: Welch Tara
Published: April 2013

Valerius Maximus’ Facta et dicta memorabilia blends elements of Roman declamation and historiography. Scrutiny of this text’s intertextual practices sheds light on the relationship it creates between its contents and its readers. Whereas declamation’s textual re-use aims to draw attention to the declaimer’s skill at adapting material, and historiographers invoke prior texts to borrow the earlier author’s authority, Valerius Maximus includes prior texts in ways that obscure both his own skill and his source’s authority. The attention he draws to an authorless “tradition,” of which he is a part, makes the lessons his text contains available to an audience previously excluded from Roman literary culture.
Non subripiendi causa sed palam mutuandi : Intertextuality and Literary Deviancy between Law, Rhetoric, and Literature in Roman Imperial Culture
Authors: Peirano Irene
Published: April 2013

This article explores the use of imagery drawn from the legal sphere to describe intertextual relations in Roman culture, drawing attention to the interconnected nature of contemporary debates on ownership and private property in law and literary criticism. Taking as my starting point a remark by Seneca the Elder on Ovid’s “borrowing” of Virgil’s text ( Suas . 3.3), I show how the distinction often invoked between legitimate imitation and literary theft is explained by a deep-seated and multi-faceted analogy between literary and legal judgment. Moreover, I show how the use of legal metaphors derives special meaning from the context of Seneca’s work, in which readers are asked to judge both the legal and the literary merits of the cases presented.
Cultural Studies, Oral Tradition, and the Promise of Intertextuality
Authors: Nicholson Nigel
Published: April 2013

Returning intertextuality to its roots in Bakhtinian linguistics, this study argues that intertextuality, in contrast to allusion, provides a model for articulating the relations between fixed literary texts and informal oral traditions, linking them to larger political concerns and so exposing their mutual responsiveness. As an illustration, the study demonstrates that Pindar’s Olympian 10 and ‘Hero of Temesa’ legend, while not in a relationship of allusion, offered visions of Epizephyrian Locri that responded to each other, and so reveals a complexity to contemporary Locrian society that would be obscured if the oral traditions were not utilized.
Reading the Octopus: Authorship, Intertexts, and A Hellenistic Anecdote (Machon Fr. 9 Gow)
Authors: LeVen Pauline
Published: April 2013

As oral, unowned and unfixed bits of narrative, anecdotes are unlikely candidates for being read intertextually. Yet the Hellenistic poet Machon’s chreiae offer an ideal place to challenge this assumption. A case study shows how a chreia can productively be read in two ways: one, the formal approach, considers the fragment (9 Gow) as a fixed text, and studies the allusions and intertexts it relies on. The other, the socio-cultural approach, examines the dialogue this chreia establishes with authorless, informal narratives, and the scholarly practices of contemporary Alexandrian scholars. Both are complementary, especially for our appreciation of the anecdote’s aesthetics.
On Encountering Cephalus in De Senectute
Authors: Stull William
Published: April 2013

This article considers a characteristic type of intertextual engagement in Cicero’s dialogues—the use of translated excerpts from Greek authors. Focusing first on Cicero’s own discussion of his methods in the preface to De Finibus , it argues that these quotations should in general be understood within a cultural framework, as part of a strategy of Roman self-assertion. Attention then turns to De Senectute , and to the long excerpt from Plato’s Republic that it contains. The presence of this passage, which associates Cato with Cephalus, is interpreted as Cicero’s means of establishing, in contradistinction to Plato, the importance of experiential knowledge.
Free Spirits: Sallust and the Citation of Catiline
Authors: Feldherr Andrew
Published: April 2013

Sallust’s account of Catiline’s first speech contains a verbal echo of Cicero’s First Catilinarian ( BC 20.9 ~ Cat . 1.1). By raising the question of whether Catiline or Cicero counts as the author of the phrase, Sallust invites attention to the double nature of historiography as at once a literary representation of reality and a part of the historical processes it documents. Hearing Catiline as author points up the historicity of texts: the phrase itself changes meaning and significance as it is appropriated by a sequence of authors. An awareness of Cicero as source recalls the textuality of history: the struggles to control the meaning of actions and language staged through intertextuality overlap with actual political conflicts.
Free at Last: From Bound Morpheme to Discourse Marker in Lengua ri Palenge (Palenquero Creole Spanish)
Authors: Lipski John M.
Published: April 2013

The Spanish-lexified creole language spoken in the Afro-Colombian village of San Basilio de Palenque has become endangered due to ethnic and racial prejudice and discrimination. Recent changes in community attitudes, coupled with frequent visits by linguistic researchers, have resulted in heightened metalinguistic awareness as residents strive to speak the “best” Palenquero creole. One manifestation of “fancy” Palenquero speech is the detachment of bound verbal morphemes, which when freely reattached to other elements serve as discourse markers validating “true” Palenquero. The full range of emergent discourse validators is found among community members regarded as the “best” speakers and presented to visitors.
Diversity in the Numeral Systems of Australian Languages
Authors: Bowern Claire , Zentz Jason
Published: April 2013

While the numeral systems of Australian languages are small, they are not uniform. In this article we shed light on the extent of variation in small numeral systems by systematically surveying 189 languages from Pama- Nyungan and non-Pama-Nyungan families. We show that, contra previous assumptions, Australian languages vary extensively in the limits of their numeral system, in the ways in which smaller numerals may be combined to form larger ones, and in their ability to denote vague quantities like ‘some’ or ‘few’. We also investigate the etymological sources of words for numerals and find that few terms are reconstructible.
Kin Terms and Context among the Gooniyandi
Authors: McGregor William B.
Published: April 2013

This article discusses some unusual uses of kin terms in Gooniyandi (non-Pama-Nyungan, Australia), uses that are unexpected given their senses as they appear from the context of elicitation. These usages are strongly associated with specific linguistic and interactive contexts; they are not, however, determined by the contexts, but equally construct them. It is argued that these uses imply the need to distinguish coded semantic meaning, contextual meaning, and inferred pragmatic meaning. The system of kin terms is a dynamic one that is deployed strategically by speakers to manipulate kin relations in their attempts to achieve interpersonal goals in interaction with others.
Tseng Kwong Chi and the Eugenic Landscape
Authors: Day Iyko
Published: April 2013

My essay examines Tseng Kwong Chi’s photographs of US and Canadian landscapes as a queer parody of the Western conventions associated with landscape art of the early twentieth century. Exploring the influence of Ansel Adams, Gutzon Borglum, and the Canadian Group of Seven landscape artists, I argue that Tseng’s photographs parody the eugenic ideals projected onto the settler colonial landscape.
“Delighted and Instructed”: African American Challenges to Panoramic Aesthetics in J. P. Ball, Kara Walker, and Frederick Douglass
Authors: Jarenski Shelly
Published: April 2013

This essay examines African American artists’ and writers’ engagement with the visual aesthetics of panoramas. Panoramas traditionally relied on an imperialist and pedagogical methodology. Yet panoramas have played a key role in African American political and artistic projects from the nineteenth century to today. The counteraesthetic strategies employed by J. P. Ball’s 1855 abolitionist panorama as well as contemporary artist Kara Walker’s panoramic silhouettes provide an important context for reconsidering the spatial and temporal revisions in Frederick Douglass’s second autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom . This essay engages with the pressing scholarly project of charting a nineteenth-century African American aesthetic.
American Studies as Accompaniment
Authors: Tomlinson Barbara , Lipsitz George
Published: April 2013

The future of American studies requires scholars to know the work we want our work to do ; to frame our scholarly relations not as competition but as accompaniment; to insist that we infuse our ideas and activism with moral judgment and wisdom; to clarify the significance of different aspects of our scholarly lives; to acknowledge that our work speaks for us but also for others; and to recognize the dialogic and dialectically related nature of our views of American society. The success of American studies depends not only on what scholars know but also on how we go about knowing .
“Indiscriminate and Shameless Sex”: The Strategic Use of Sexuality by the United Farm Workers
Authors: Minian Ana Raquel
Published: April 2013

This essay focuses on how the United Farm Workers (UFW) used sexuality as a tool to advance la causa. From homosexuality and prostitution to sexual abstinence and birth control, discussions of controversial sexual matters appeared constantly in UFW leaders’ speeches, songs, and pamphlets, and in the union’s newspaper, El Malcriado . Union leaders referred to sexual matters so frequently because they considered their positions on sex and sexuality integral to the UFW’s success. By choosing this strategic discourse, however, the union ended up promoting heteropatriarchal ideas and limiting the potential outcomes of their struggle. By complicating our understanding of the cultural tools used by union leaders, this essay provides a more-nuanced picture of the UFW, of how social realities affect social movement strategies, and of the potential pitfalls of adopting hegemonic cultural representations while fighting for systemic change.
Sex Selection and the Procreative Liberty Framework
Authors: de Melo-Martín Inmaculada
Published: April 2013

The practice of sex selection for social reasons has raised serious criticism. Advocates of this practice, however, insist that objections to it are unfounded and that legal bans are ethically unjustified. Usually, proponents use a rights-based liberal approach as the framework to evaluate this practice. Under this framework, reproductive choice is a basic freedom and interference with individuals’ autonomous reproductive choices is illegitimate, unless their actions are shown to seriously harm others. As persuasive as this framework might be in relation to many aspects of reproduction, I argue that it is inappropriate when dealing with sex selection for social purposes.
“Obligated Aliens”: Recognizing Sperm Donors’ Ethical Obligation to Disclose Genetic Information
Authors: Tamir Sivan
Published: April 2013

Sperm donors’ obligations are typically constrained to the immediate circumstances surrounding the donation and to its time frame. This paper makes the case for recognizing an ongoing ethical obligation that binds sperm donors to disclose, in a timely manner, meaningful genetic information to recipients and donor-conceived children. The paper delineates and conceptualizes the suggested (potentially reciprocal) duty and argues that it is not the genetic link between the donor and the donor-conceived child that binds donors by said duty, but rather social responsibility. Accordingly, an original perception of the donor as an obligated alien is suggested and developed. The main thesis of the paper is supported inter alia by a comparison between transmitting infectious diseases and passing faulty genes on to donor-conceived children. The paper also provides an in-depth analysis of the conflicting interests of the parties generated by such an obligation and proposes a model for embedding this ethical duty in a (legal) contractual framework.
Brain Death, Paternalism, and the Language of “Death”
Authors: Nair-Collins Michael
Published: April 2013

The controversy surrounding the dead donor rule and the adequacy of neurological criteria for death continues unabated. However, despite disagreement on fundamental theoretical questions, I argue that there is significant (but not complete) agreement on the permissibility of organ retrieval from heart-beating donors. Many disagreements are rooted in disputes surrounding language meaning and use, rather than the practices of transplant medicine. Thus I suggest that the debate can be fruitfully recast in terms of a dispute about language. Given this recasting, I argue that the language used to describe organ donation is misleading and paternalistic. Finally, I suggest that the near-agreement on the permissibility of heart-beating organ retrieval ought to be reconsidered. If the paternalism is not justified, then either the language used to describe organ transplantation must change radically, or it would seem to follow that much of the transplant enterprise lacks ethical justification.
A Contemplative Community?: The Cloud Texts and Scale 2 in Dialogue
Authors: Taylor Cheryl
Published: April 2013

A devotional milieu shared by Walter Hilton and the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing was the probable basis of intertextual exchanges which took place in the early 1390s in major works by each writer. The article considers how this dialogue contributes to the climactic rendition of Hilton's spiritual attainment in Scale 2 . Early chapters are uninfluenced by the Cloud texts and dominated by an authoritarian polemic, but from Chapter 21, Scale 2 weaves a sequential commentary on The Cloud into the unfolding of its teaching. In a convergence which challenges strict scholarly definitions of Hilton as cataphatic and the Cloud -author as apophatic, Scale 2 deals expansively with the author's paradoxical metaphor of darkness. Chapters 30-7 deploy a benevolent pastoral rhetoric to explicate or amend instructions given in related chapters of The Cloud. Scale 2 proceeds to insist like The Cloud on the deceptiveness of language, as it seeks to merge the multiplicity of words and concepts into the unity of fulfilled contemplation. The article concludes by suggesting that the reinterpretations in Scale 2 may have functioned ideologically to neutralise the potentially disruptive genius of The Cloud within official Church discourses.
Breaking the Rules that 'ben not writen': Reginald Pecock and the Vernacular
Authors: Hardwick Paul
Published: April 2013

This article addresses the writings of Bishop Reginald Pecock within the growing culture of vernacular literacy in fifteenth-century England in the wake of Arundel's Constitutions . The surviving texts from his vernacular works of lay instruction are examined in order to challenge the charges of heterodoxy that were levelled against him concerning the power and fallibility of the Church. It is argued that Pecock's most serious, yet unacknowledged, transgression was to address the laity in their mother tongue. By employing a language 'whos reulis ben not writen', Pecock was unintentionally validating the antisacerdotal Lollard discourse that he sought to counter. At the same time, the instability of English as a vehicle for expressing doctrinal subtleties afforded an opportunity for his opponents to wilfully mis-read his works in order to support their accusations.
Class, Gender and Community in Thomas Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday and Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna
Authors: Cañadas Ivan
Published: April 2013

The following article examines the portrayal of interclass conflict, specifically the favourable treatment of aggressive self-definition by commoners, in two early modern plays, Thomas Dekker's popular citizen drama, The Shoemaker's Holiday (1599), and Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna (1612-14), which is based on a historical peasant uprising in fifteenth-century Andalusia. While the two plays present class conflict in terms of sexual rivalry and sexualised abuse by social superiors, a factor which allowed both dramatists to appeal to the socially diverse audiences of Elizabethan London and Golden Age Madrid in favour of the plebeian communities at the heart of the plays, there are significant differences between them in terms of their construction of gender difference and a gendered conception of social identity; Fuente Ovejuna ultimately transcends the specifically masculine context of conflict evident in both plays, and, by these means, not only celebrates the communal, gender-subversive heroism of its peasants, but also appeals to the audience in similarly heterosocial terms.
Four Notes on the Registrum of Gregory the Great
Authors: Martyn John R.C.
Published: April 2013

Modern biographers of Gregory the Great have failed to understand key evidence for the Pope's reaction to the murder of his old friend, Maurice, and of his godson and heir to the throne, Theodosius, by the military usurper Phocas, to be found in the Pope's Latin letters. Several of these are lengthy and in complex Ciceronian Latin, which may explain their superficial use to date. In this article, a close analysis of the Latin from four points of view should provide plenty of evidence for a change in the usual condemnation of the Pope over his praise of the new Emperor. The very early arrival in Italy of Phocas' agent, Beator, to plunder the estates of Maurice's old friends is fully described for the first time, as is the hostile reception in Rome of the new rulers' icons, and the covert criticism of Phocas in the litany for the plague procession of 603. Most revealing is the careful study of how Gregory wrote to Phocas and his wife, and to his old friends in Constantinople. He skilfully condemns the murderer with ironic praise, just as Petronius did with Nero, neither of them risking his own neck.
Cultural Encounters and Self Encounters in Early Modern English Travel Autobiographies
Authors: Davis Lloyd
Published: April 2013

Travel journals and diaries written by English travellers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are intent on relating individual experiences to the expectations and values of the people encountered abroad as well as those who remain at home. Their prefaces and epistles aim to reaffirm an awareness of cultural order and control prior to recounting a tale of fantastic, possibly unnerving, events. Subjects such as religion, health and food tend to be invoked in travellers' tales. Through such topics, authors' and readers' sense of themselves, built up over daily experience of familiar customs and habits, can be challenged or supported. Authors find that on their travels they can never be cut off from their original communities. Differences of class, education and ethical outlook impinge forcefully upon their experience, either directly in their companions or through apprehensions of what those at home will make of their journeys. In these authors' efforts to hold onto and promote their identity and perspective amid familiar parties and recognised factions, as much as before un imagined sights, peoples and conditions, we see some of the significant cultural forces that fashion and divide early modern individuals.