bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Open Abdomen Treated with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy: Indications, Management and Survival
Authors: Seternes A. , Rekstad L. C. , Mo S. , Klepstad P. , Halvorsen D. L. , Dahl T. , Björck M. , Wibe A.
Published: August 2016

Background

Open abdomen treatment (OAT) is a significant burden for patients and is associated with considerable mortality. The primary aim of this study was to report survival and cause of mortality after OAT. Secondary aims were to evaluate length of stay (LOS) in intensive care unit (ICU) and in hospital, time to abdominal closure and major complications.

Methods

Retrospective review of prospectively registered patients undergoing OAT between October 2006 and June 2014 at Trondheim University Hospital, Norway.

Results

The 118 patients with OAT had a median age of 63 (20–88) years. OAT indications were abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) (n = 53), prophylactic (n = 29), abdominal contamination/second look laparotomy (n = 22), necrotizing fasciitis (n = 7), hemorrhage packing (n = 4) and full‐thickness wound dehiscence (n = 3). Eight percent were trauma patients. Vacuum‐assisted wound closure (VAWC) with mesh‐mediated traction (VAWCM) was used in 92 (78 %) patients, the remaining 26 (22 %) had VAWC only. Per‐protocol primary fascial closure rate was 84 %. Median time to abdominal closure was 12 days (1–143). LOS in the ICU was 15 (1–89), and in hospital 29 (1–246) days. Eighty‐one (68 %) patients survived the hospital stay. Renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) (OR 3.9, 95 % CI 1.37–11.11), ACS (OR 3.1, 95 % CI 1.19–8.29) and advanced age (OR 1.045, 95 % CI 1.004–1.088) were independent predictors of mortality in multivariate analysis. The nine patients with an entero‐atmospheric fistula (EAF) survived.

Conclusion

Two‐thirds of the patients treated with OAT survived. Renal failure with RRT, ACS and advanced age were predictors of mortality, whereas EAF was not associated with increased mortality.
Seasonal Variations in Lipid Content, Fatty Acid Composition and Nutritional Profiles of Five Freshwater Fish from the Amazon Basin
Authors: Petenuci Maria Eugênia , Rocha Iolanda do Nascimento Araújo , de Sousa Sueli Caetano , Schneider Vanessa Vivian Almeida , da Costa Luiz Antonio Mendonça Alves , Visentainer Jesuí Vergilio
Published: August 2016

Fish from the Amazon Basin are affected by oscillations in the river water volume, which influences the diet of animal species. This study was aimed at evaluating seasonal variations in lipid content, fatty acid composition and nutritional profiles of five fish species from the Amazon Basin. The lipid contents of all fish species were observed to be lower in flood periods than in drought periods;Brachyplatystoma flavicansshowed the largest variation (6.75–15.43 %) between these periods, whileColossoma macropomumshowed no significant difference (p> 0.05). The fatty acid composition in the five fish species varied throughout seasonal periods; saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents decreased in flood periods, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents significantly (p< 0.05) increased for all the species in the same period.Leporinus fridericishowed the highest content of α‐linolenic acid, (LNA 14.86 mg g−1) andColossoma macropomumpresented the highest content of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA 26.13 mg g−1) in flood periods.Prochilodus nigricansshowed the lowest content of arachidonic acid (AA) in both periods, whileBrachyplatystoma flavicansshowed the greatest amount of AA, 18.77 mg g−1in drought period and 22.10 mg g−1in flood period. All the fish species presented favorable indices of nutritional quality of lipid fraction, suggesting that consumption of these species could be considered beneficial to human health.
Spatial Variation in the Quality of American Community Survey Estimates
Authors: Folch David C. , Arribas-Bel Daniel , Koschinsky Julia , Spielman Seth E.
Published: August 2016

Social science research, public and private sector decisions, and allocations of federal resources often rely on data from the American Community Survey (ACS). However, this critical data source has high uncertainty in some of its most frequently used estimates. Using 2006–2010 ACS median household income estimates at the census tract scale as a test case, we explore spatial and nonspatial patterns in ACS estimate quality. We find that spatial patterns of uncertainty in the northern United States differ from those in the southern United States, and they are also different in suburbs than in urban cores. In both cases, uncertainty is lower in the former than the latter. In addition, uncertainty is higher in areas with lower incomes. We use a series of multivariate spatial regression models to describe the patterns of association between uncertainty in estimates and economic, demographic, and geographic factors, controlling for the number of responses. We find that these demographic and geographic patterns in estimate quality persist even after we account for the number of responses. Our results indicate that data quality varies across places, making cross-sectional analysis both within and across regions less reliable. Finally, we present advice for data users and potential solutions to the challenges identified.
Health System Response and Adaptation to the Largest Sandstorm in the Middle East
Authors: Irfan Furqan B. , Pathan Sameer A. , Bhutta Zain A. , Abbasy Mohamed E. , Elmoheen Amr , Elsaeidy Abdallah M. , Tariq Tooba , Hugelmeyer Charles D. , Dardouri Habib , Bad Shah Noor Bibi Khial , Daniel Colene Y. , Silva Ashwin D. , Farook Kaleelullah S. , Sharma Yogdutt , Thomas Stephen H.
Published: August 2016

The State of Qatar experienced a sandstorm on the night of April 1, 2015, lasting approximately 12 hours, with winds of more than 100 km/h and average particulate matter of approximately 10 μm in diameter. The emergency department (ED) of the main tertiary hospital in Qatar managed 62% of the total emergency calls and those of higher triage order. The peak load of patients during the event manifested approximately 6 hours after the onset. The Major Emergency Command Centre of the hospital ensured the department was maximally organized in terms of disaster management, and established protocols were brought into action. Multiple timely meetings were convened in efforts to effectively execute plans that included rapid emergency medical services handover time, resourcing staff, maximizing bed space, preventing dust entry in the ED, bypassing certain administrative processes, canceling day-surgeries that did not affect inpatient morbidity, and procuring additional respiratory equipment. Patients arrived mainly with exacerbations of asthma and respiratory distress, ophthalmic emergencies, and vehicular trauma; surprisingly, the incidence of pedestrian injuries did not vary. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:227–238)
Higher-order dissipation in the theory of homogeneous isotropic turbulence
Authors: Peters Norbert , Boschung Jonas , Gauding Michael , Goebbert Jens Henrik , Hill Reginald J. , Pitsch Heinz
Published: August 2016

The two-point theory of homogeneous isotropic turbulence is extended to source terms appearing in the equations for higher-order structure functions. For this, transport equations for these source terms are derived. We focus on the trace of the resulting equations, which is of particular interest because it is invariant and therefore independent of the coordinate system. In the trace of the even-order source term equation, we discover the higher-order moments of the dissipation distribution, and the individual even-order source term equations contain the higher-order moments of the longitudinal, transverse and mixed dissipation distribution functions. This shows for the first time that dissipation fluctuations, on which most of the phenomenological intermittency models are based, are contained in the Navier–Stokes equations. Noticeably, we also find the volume-averaged dissipation $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{r}$ used by Kolmogorov (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 13, 1962, pp. 82–85) in the resulting system of equations, because it is related to dissipation correlations.
Effect of surfactant on motion and deformation of compound droplets in arbitrary unbounded Stokes flows
Authors: Mandal Shubhadeep , Ghosh Uddipta , Chakraborty Suman
Published: August 2016

This study deals with the motion and deformation of a compound drop system, subject to arbitrary but Stokesian far-field flow conditions, in the presence of bulk-insoluble surfactants. We derive solutions for fluid velocities and the resulting surfactant concentrations, assuming the capillary number and surface Péclet number to be small, as compared with unity. We first focus on a concentric drop configuration and apply Lamb’s general solution, assuming the far-field flow to be arbitrary in nature. As representative case studies, we consider two cases: (i) flow dynamics in linear flows and (ii) flow dynamics in a Poiseuille flow, although for the latter case, the concentric configuration does not remain valid in general. We further look into the effective viscosity of a dilute suspension of compound drops, subject to linear ambient flow, and compare our predictions with previously reported experiments. Subsequently, the eccentric drop configuration is addressed by using a bipolar coordinate system where the far-field flow is assumed to be axisymmetric but otherwise arbitrary in nature. As a specific example for eccentric drop dynamics, we focus on Poiseuille flow and study the drop migration velocities. Our analysis shows that the presence of surfactant generally opposes the imposed flows, thereby acting like an effective augmented viscosity. Our analysis reveals that maximizing the effects of surfactant makes the drops behave like solid particles suspended in a medium. However, in uniaxial extensional flow, the presence of surfactants on the inner drop, in conjunction with the drop radius ratio, leads to a host of interesting and non-monotonic behaviours for the interface deformation. For eccentric drops, the effect of eccentricity only becomes noticeable after it surpasses a certain critical value, and becomes most prominent when the two interfaces approach each other. We further depict that surfactant and eccentricity generally tend to suppress each other’s effects on the droplet migration velocities.
Oscillatory Marangoni flows with inertia
Authors: Shardt Orest , Masoud Hassan , Stone Howard A.
Published: August 2016

When the surface of a liquid has a non-uniform distribution of a surfactant that lowers surface tension, the resulting variation in surface tension drives a flow that spreads the surfactant towards a uniform distribution. We study the spreading dynamics of an insoluble and non-diffusing surfactant on an initially motionless liquid. We derive solutions for the evolution over time of sinusoidal variations in surfactant concentration with a small initial amplitude relative to the average concentration. In this limit, the coupled flow and surfactant transport equations are linear. In contrast to exponential decay when the inertia of the flow is negligible, the solution for unsteady Stokes flow exhibits oscillations when inertia is sufficient to spread the surfactant beyond a uniform distribution. This oscillatory behaviour exhibits two properties that distinguish it from that of a simple harmonic oscillator: the amplitude changes sign at most three times, and the decay at late times follows a power law with an exponent of $-3/2$. As the surface oscillates, the structure of the subsurface flow alternates between one and two rows of counter-rotating vortices, starting with one row and ending with two during the late-time monotonic decay. We also examine numerically the evolution of the surfactant distribution when the system is nonlinear due to a large initial amplitude.
A Study on Hydromagnetic Pulsating Flow of a Nanofluid in a Porous Channel With Thermal Radiation
Authors: Vijayalakshmi A. , Srinivas S.
Published: August 2016

The present study investigates the hydromagnetic pulsating nanofluid flow in a porous channel with thermal radiation. In this work, we considered water as the base fluid and silver (Ag), copper (Cu), alumina (Al2O3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) as nanoparticles. The Maxwell-Garnetts and Brinkman models are used to evaluate the effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluid. The governing equations are solved analytically and the influence of various parameters on velocity, temperature and heat transfer rate has been discussed through graphical results. From the results, it is found that the rate of heat transfer enhances with an increase of nanoparticle volume fraction. Further, the heat transfer rate is higher for silver nanoparticles as compared with copper, alumina and titanium dioxide.
The effects of work social support and career adaptability on career satisfaction and turnover intentions
Authors: Karatepe Osman M , Olugbade Olusegun A
Published: August 2016

Applying career construction theory, this study develops and tests a research model that investigates whether career adaptability mediates the effect of work social support on career satisfaction and turnover intentions. Data obtained from frontline hotel employees with a 2-week time lag in three waves in Nigeria were used to assess the previously mentioned relationships. The results from structural equation modeling suggest that work social support boosts career adaptability and career satisfaction, while it mitigates turnover intentions. Surprisingly, the results suggest that career adaptability triggers turnover intentions, while it has no bearing on career satisfaction. The results further suggest that career adaptability partially mediates the relationship between work social support and turnover intentions.
Spatiotemporal Variability in ΔR in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, USA
Authors: Hadden Carla S , Cherkinsky Alexander
Published: August 2016

Strombus alatus and Busycon sinistrum are large marine gastropods that are frequently recovered from archaeological contexts in southeastern North America. We previously proposed a reservoir age offset (ΔR) for B. sinistrum from the northern Gulf of Mexico region based on known-age pre-bomb 20th-century specimens. We also reported significant variability in radiocarbon both among and within S. alatus specimens, which precluded a reliable estimation of ΔR for this taxon. In this paper, we present a complementary data set from archaeological contexts to re-evaluate marine reservoir effects in the northern Gulf Coast region at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The new data set consists of a total of 13 14C age determinations from well-associated marine (B. sinistrum and S. alatus) and terrestrial (Odocoileus virginianus) samples from a closed context at the Bayou St. John (1BA21) archaeological site. We suggest a slightly updated ∆R value of –2±53 14C yr for late Holocene-age B. sinistrum from the northern Gulf Coast region. S. alatus, and possibly other species of strombid conchs, are poor candidates for 14C dating due to the highly variable 14C content observed within and among specimens. Though subregional variability in inputs of 14C-depleted waters is likely, life-history factors related to ontogenetic niche and/or habitat shifts appear to be a major influence in shell 14C for S. alatus.
The Variations Under Altered Conditions in the Bonus Provided by a Given Scale of Premiums
Authors: Pollock Wilfred
Published: August 2016

The theory underlying this paper is that an office proposing to pay bonuses on the compound reversionary bonus system has calculated appropriate premiums according to the rates of interest and mortality which it was then anticipated would represent future experience and that the scale of premiums has not since been altered.
Notes on the Practical Application of the Contribution Method of Distributing Surplus
Authors: Maclean J. B.
Published: August 2016

It is now almost seventy years since Sheppard Homans, then actuary of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, described in a paper presented to the Institute (J.I.A. Vol. XI, p. 121) a new method of surplus distribution, devised by himself and D. P. Fackler. The new method was one which had been applied by them for the first time in the surplus distribution of the Mutual Life in 1863. That method, known as the Contribution Plan, has since been universally adopted in the United States and Canada and is thus the method of surplus distribution which is and for many years has been applicable to the larger part of the life insurance in force throughout the world. The method was not received with favour by British actuaries nor, except possibly in isolated cases, has it ever been applied in Great Britain. The methods of T. B. Sprague and T. G. C. Browne, while frequently referred to as “contribution” methods, are of a different character from Homans’ method and differ from it radically both in principle and in practical application.
A Stochastic Approach to Actuarial Functions
Authors: Pollard A. H. , Pollard J. H.
Published: August 2016

The classical approach to actuarial problems has been deterministic. That is, the assumption has been made that the number of policies in force is large, that chance fluctuations are unimportant, and that the use of mean values is adequate. The actual cost to a company of an annuity, for example, may in fact vary from nothing (if the annuitant dies immediately) to a large amount (if he lives to be a nonogenarian). On average, the cost will be ax, and for many purposes, this value is good enough.
The Implications for British Insurance, Particularly Long-Term Business, of Joining the European Common Market.
Authors: Oppé T. H. M.
Published: August 2016

The right way to negotiate with Europe is the way in which, at its best, the Common Market has handled its own problems. One should start from the view that there is a collective European interest to be served, as there always is. One should then make sure that the separate national interests are reconciled with the interests of Europe. Only a man who thinks in European terms can make this adjustment of national and European interests successfully.

The Times—29 July 1970.

This paper must be forward-looking. To dwell on the past, and even the present, would fill many pages to little purpose. The author is convinced after reviewing many files of documents that the European Common Market would not have gone forward if its founders had allowed themselves to be sidetracked by narrow interests. This perhaps sounds ominous to experts in particular fields, such as actuaries, for it is not always a happy position when political motives may overrule, or cut short, technical considerations. But the concept of the Common Market is a political one and this is becoming more apparent as the years roll on. The collective European interest will prevail but that does not mean that British philosophy and practice cannot make a distinguished contribution to European thought in the field of insurance, particularly life assurance. In practical terms, it is clearly not possible to argue for the adoption of British practice in its entirety. But I do believe that unless the profession takes every opportunity to argue the merits of our own ways of providing life assurance in the private sector, we may well live to regret the omission.
Introductory Note.
Authors: Johnson P. D. , Hey G. B.
Published: August 2016

In 1970 the Association Royale des Actuaires Belges celebrated the 75th anniversary of its foundation. To mark the occasion, the Association had in the previous year invited papers to be submitted on two subjects, one of which was ‘Determination of the heterogeneity of the classes of risks’, and the paper which follows this introductory note was one of those submitted on this subject. The paper deals exclusively with motor insurance, in which the study of heterogeneity must be regarded as being of major importance, and discusses both the measurement of heterogeneity and the relationship between heterogeneity and methods of experience rating such as the no claim discount (NCD) systems used in the United Kingdom.
An Arithmetic Version of the Financial Times Industrial Ordinary Share Index.
Authors: Marks Peter , Stuart Alan
Published: August 2016

This paper investigates the recalculation from its base date of theFinancial TimesIndex of Industrial Ordinary Shares (hereafter called theFTIndex) using the ordinary arithmetic mean of the values of its constituents, rather than the geometric mean that is actually used in its calculation. The value of this arithmetic version of theFTIndex represents that of a portfolio invested equally in each of the original constituents at the base date. The behaviour of the recalculated index may therefore be described in portfolio terms.

The arithmeticized index has been calculated at each end-year since the base date of theFTIndex (1 July 1935). By the end of 1970 its value was 38% higher than that of the (geometric)FTIndex. The percentage by which the new index exceeded the original was found to have increased approximately linearly with time; a least-squares linear fit over the whole period indicated that the percentage excess of the arithmetic version over the original index had increased on average by 0·8% a year. A separate fit for the period from end-1960 onwards shows that this rate had increased to 2·7% per year, and even over the period since 1950, it has been 1·1% per year. Use of these relationships gives a rough adjustment of theFTIndex for portfolio comparison purposes.

We also calculated a series of arithmetic indices with base dates at the end of each year since the original base date of theFTIndex. In the majority of calendar years since its foundation, theFTIndex has not fallen far behind the corresponding arithmetic version over the twelve month period. However, over periods of more than a year, the geometric and arithmetic indices can show dramatically different results, particularly if the percentage change in the index value is considered. It is clear that longer-term changes in the value of theFTIndex cannot be interpreted as the changes that would have occurred in the value of a portfolio equally invested in the thirty constituent shares at the beginning of the period.

None of these findings affects the usefulness of theFTIndex for its original purpose, as a sensitive daily indicator of changes in the industrial ordinary share market. It is purely its long-run use as a portfolio standard that is misleading. For this purpose the more recently instituted arithmetic indices are likely to be useful in the future. Meanwhile, our arithmeticizedFTIndex values may be useful to correct the downward drift imposed on theFTIndex by its geometric construction.
Superannuation Funds. Notes on Some Post-War Problems, together with an Account of a Pensioners' Mortality Experience (Civil Service Pensioners, 1904–1914)
Authors: Epps G. S. W.
Published: August 2016

The ordinary member of a pension fund, if asked whether there is any connection between the high cost of living at present oppressing him and the security of the pension to which he looks forward to support him in his old age many years hence, would probably fail to discover that the one is related to the other. The financial position of pension funds is, however, fundamentally affected by the sudden drop in the purchasing power of the sovereign during the last few years and more directly by the enhanced scales of salaries or wages which have resulted from the change in the value of money, and it is to be feared that in many funds a very serious position has to be faced. The actuary who is called upon to advise as to the situation and to formulate remedies by which equilibrium may be restored has not only difficult professional problems to grapple with, but, having made up his mind as to the course to be recommended, he has to carry with him the responsible officers of the fund, who in their turn have to secure the co-operation of the employer and also the assent of the " ordinary member " of the fund, to whom I have referred above, to the remedies put forward.
A “Money-Purchase” Pension Scheme
Authors: Underwood R. E.
Published: August 2016

These notes deal with some of the practical and theoretical problems arising in the administration and valuation of a “money-purchase” pension scheme, that is to say, a scheme under which each contribution is utilised as a single premium to secure a definite amount of deferred pension.
On a Modification of the Net Premium Method of Valuation of Participating Assurances and on the Application of the N–ages Method to the Valuation of Assurances Grouped by Years of Entry and to the Approximate Calculation of Isolated Values of Actuarial Functions
Authors: Perks Wilfred
Published: August 2016

Amongst the disadvantages of the net premium method of valuation are the following: (1) In its application to policies participating under the uniform reversionary bonus plan, the reserve for future bonuses is, in part, secured by the use of a rate of interest remote from the experienced rate.
A Review of Investment Principles and Practice
Authors: Penman William
Published: August 2016

It was in June 1931 that the Council honoured me with an invitation to submit a paper on this subject, the intention being that it should be read at the Ordinary Meeting in April 1932.
The Components of Mortality
Authors: Barnett H. A. R.
Published: August 2016

No mortality curve appears yet to have been devised which both fits the national statistics at all ages, and also has a simple philosophical explanation. The object of this paper may be stated as being the building up of a new mortality curve from its component parts, as many as possible of these parts having a philosophical background, and the whole being applicable to the national data.
Some Considerations Affecting the Selection of Risks
Authors: Steeds A. J.
Published: August 2016

In presenting a paper on underwriting to this Institute, I realize how difficult it is to say anything new on the subject. There have been excellent papers presented to the Institute since the Second World War, the first by W. Perks, ‘The Treatment of Substandard Lives in Practice’ (J.I.A. 78, 205), and the second by R. D. Clarke, ‘An Investigation into the Mortality of Impaired Lives’ (J.I.A. 87, 196). Moreover, there have been several papers presented to the Faculty of Actuaries. I believe, however, that this is a subject which the actuaries of life offices should discuss periodically. The terms on which risks, both standard and substandard, are admitted to a life fund are clearly of prime importance to the actuary responsible for the management of the fund. Underwriting is fundamental to life assurance and will remain fundamental as long as life assurance is voluntary and underwritten by separate and competing institutions.
Unit Trusts and Equity Linked Endowment Assurances
Authors: Grant A. T. , Kingsnorth G. A.
Published: August 2016

Unit trusts originated in the United Kingdom in the second half of the nineteenth century, but an early court ruling that unit trusts were not legal resulted in all but one unit trust changing to the form of investment trusts. Although the court ruling was later reversed, little further headway was made by the unit trust movement until after the Great Crash of 1929.
On Friendly Societies Since the Advent of National Health Insurance
Authors: Burrows Victor A.
Published: August 2016

With the advent of National Health Insurance the friendly society movement in this country entered upon a new phase of its history. The period which has elapsed since 1911 has witnessed farreaching changes affecting not only the methods by which friendly societies conduct their operations and the nature of the benefits they offer but also the character of their experience and even the outlook of the members. It may not be without interest therefore to review the more important of these changes so far as this is possible within the limits of a short paper.
The Concept of Probability
Authors: Clarke R. D.
Published: August 2016

It is commonplace to remark that probability lies at the root of actuarial science. It is equally commonplace that there has been—and still is—considerable dispute over the definition of probability and that such dispute is usually of little consequence in practical calculations. This being so, some may wonder why I have chosen to ventilate once again the philosophical problems which encompass the concept of probability and which commonly bedevil discussions of what is meant by propositions of the form ‘The probability of x is y’ or ‘A is more probable than B’. The solutions which may be offered to this type of problem are not likely to affect the amount of a surrender value or the contribution scale of a pension scheme. On occasion they may affect the answers to estimation problems or decisions based upon significance tests, although even here the differences between the results yielded by alternative methods of approach are commonly negligible.
The Chronology of Twenty Homilies of Severian of Gabala
Authors: Carter Robert E.
Published: August 2016

We know the events of only five or six years in the life of Severian of Gabala, from A.D. 398 or 399 to 404. We are told that Severian was Syrian by birth and spoke Greek with a Syriac accent. His brother bishop and friend Antiochus of Ptolemais went to Constantinople, probably very soon after Chrysostom's episcopal consecration on 15 December 397 or 26 February 398, and earned a great deal of money preaching. Severian decided to follow his friend's example and went to the imperial capital in 398 or 399 to make his fortune. He was well received by Chrysostom; his preaching was evidently a great success, and he became known to many in high office as well as to the emperor Arcadius and the empress Eudoxia.
“Beautiful on the Cross, Beautiful in His Torments”: The Place of the Body in the Thought of Paschasius Radbertus
Authors: Appleby David
Published: August 2016

In his literary portrait of Abbot Adalhard, written soon after the abbot's death in 826, Paschasius Radbertus of Corbie compared his subject's moral and spiritual progress to the method of the ancient painter Zeuxis as this had been described in Cicero'sDe inventione.According to Cicero, the people of Cortona commissioned Zeuxis to decorate a temple with the image of Helen, who was reputed to be the most beautiful of mortal women. Because nature withheld overall perfection from any individual, Zeuxis studied several handsome models and combined the best features of each in an image that was more perfect than the form of any actual maiden. Adalhard too was an artist who sought to realize a work that somehow went beyond nature, but in his case the objective was a reformation of the image of God in himself. To achieve this, Adalhard too used models, in his case the lives and deeds of the saints, whose examples of virtue he discerned with the mind's eye and assimilated in an effort to resemble the transcendent archetype.
Desertions and Transfers from Military Orders (Twelfth to Early-Fourteenth Centuries)
Authors: Forey A. J.
Published: August 2016

The taking of vows in a military order, as in other religious foundations, created a lifelong obligation. The phrasestabilitas loci, which is encountered in some documents relating to these orders, did not imply an undertaking to stay permanently in the same convent, but signified that those who had made their profession should remain in the same order for life. This requirement found expression especially in papal decrees, although orders' regulations give information about the punishment of apostates. As in other religious establishments, a transfer to another order provided the sole permitted exception, but this was allowed only under certain conditions.
A Gersonian Text in Defense of Poetry: De laudibus elegie spiritualis (ca. 1422–1425)
Authors: Roccati G. Matteo
Published: August 2016

During the troubled period of the Great Schism, the Hundred Years War, and the civil war in France, Jean Gerson (1363–1429), chancellor of the University of Paris, played an important part. However, his primary importance lies in the considerable corpus of writings that he left, rather than his role in political and ecclesiastical affairs. His theological writings are well known, and the literary aspects of his works have been pointed out, especially in relation to French humanism of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In particular, his Latin poems are important evidence of the cultural climate of these years and still survive in great number — we actually know of nearly six thousand verses. Unfortunately, there is currently no complete edition that satisfies modern critical criteria. In these circumstances, any critical work on these texts must begin with a study of the manuscripts.
Gower on Henry IV's Rule: The Endings of theCronica Tripertitaand Its Texts
Authors: Carlson David R.
Published: August 2016

When in late 1399 Henry Bolingbroke (1367–1413) took the English throne as Henry IV from his cousin Richard II (d. 1400), the deposed king's poet John Gower (ca. 1330–1408), who had been long in Henry's favor too, wrote extensively in support of the revolution by which the Lancastrian regime was installed. Aged and probably infirm, Gower had been quiet since finishing with theConfessio amantisin the early thirteen-nineties: “A bok for king Richardes sake” (∗24), Gower had called it, written “upon his comandynge” (∗54). Then came suddenly the substantial body of Gower's Lancastrian apologetics, within a period of a few weeks or months, between late 1399 and early 1400: the some three-hundred line inaugural panegyric, in rhyme royal stanzas, now usually called “In Praise of Peace” —re vera, “ad laudem et memoriam serenissimi principis domini Regis Henrici quarti'” — the LancastrianCarmen saeculare, celebrating Henry's installation, and Gower's last writing in English; possibly some of the shorter Latin verse as well; and, most grand, his account of the revolution's advent in theCronica tripertita, in three books, 1062 Leonines, covering precisely the chronological span embedded in the official “Record et proces del renunciacion du roy Richard, le second apres Ie conquest, et de lacceptacion de mesme la renunciacion, ensemblement oue la deposicion de mesme le roy Richard,” enrolled in the rolls of parliament in late 1399, on which Gower based his verse enarration.
The Epistle of Merlin on the Popes: A New Source on the Late Medieval Notion of the Angel Pope
Authors: Mesler Katelyn
Published: August 2016

“Two angels shall lead him,” predictsThe Prophecy of the True Emperor, offering signs by which the people will recognize a foreordained holy leader, sent to restore a divided, besieged, and weakened Christendom. Although this prophecy, which was translated from Greek into Latin in the second half of the thirteenth century, spoke only of an emperor, western Christians soon came to ignore or even change the word “emperor,” preferring to read the text as a prophecy concerning the papacy. The peculiar reception of that prophecy cannot be understood apart from a crucial conceptual development that occurred in Italy during the years surrounding the turn of the fourteenth century. Whereas many thirteenth-century hopes and fears of the future were expressed through the medium of prophetic writings, these texts mainly emphasized the influence of the emperor and other secular rulers on the future course of history, for better or for worse. However, the election of the hermit Peter of Murrone as Pope Celestine V in 1294 offered unprecedented hope — especially among groups of Spiritual Franciscans — that the papacy would become the vehicle of social, moral, and spiritual reform. So great the hope, so great the disillusionment, for Celestine stepped down a few months later. He was replaced and imprisoned by Boniface VIII (r. 1294–1303), who shared none of his predecessor's sympathy for the Spirituals or their ideals. In the wake of this turmoil was born a prophetic narrative according to which the papacy first had to be usurped by one or more wicked popes before finally being restored by a particularly virtuous one. The latter would be no ordinary pretender to the throne of Peter, subject to the political machinations of cardinals and barons, for he would be elected by divine providence and crowned by an angel (Fig. 1). Thus originated the concept of the angel pope, thepastor angelicus, which was to remain a powerful image of dissent and reform in the following centuries.
A Layman'sLife of St. Augustinein Late Medieval Italy: Patronage and Polemic
Authors: Frazier Alison
Published: August 2016

During the century before the Reformation, lay elites on the Italian peninsula composed a striking number of classicizing Latin texts about the saints. These narratives are little known, although some — for example, Leonardo Giustiniani's life of St. Nicholas, Francesco Diedo'svitaof St. Roch, and Giovanni Calfurnio's passion of Simon of Trent — went into print early and have thus been more or less available for centuries. Others, such as Giovanni Carrara's life of Clare of Montefalco, have been recovered and edited only recently. Some remain unstudied, even unrecognized — among them Nicolaus Secundinus's translation of a Greek account of Gregory Nazianzus. Yet others depend on an uncertain manuscript tradition (such as George of Trebizond's passion of Andrew of Chios) or are lost entirely (e.g., Pier Candido Decembrio's life of Ambrose). I propose here that the authorial ambitions, the details of style and content, and the complications of context embodied in this minor literature make it very much worth knowing.
El capítulo De Vulture del Liber medicinae ex animalibus de Sexto Plácido: Relación con la zooterapia hermética y propuestas de enmienda al texto
Authors: Teresa María , Hernández Santamaría
Published: August 2016

Sobre las virtudes medicinales de las partes y de las sustancias del cuerpo del buitre nos han llegado tres breves escritos procedentes de la Antigüedad y de la Alta Edad Media: el capítulo correspondiente del Liber medicinae ex animalibus atribuido a Sexto Plácido, el del libro 3 de las Cyranides, y la Epistula uulturis, de autor anónimo, que, en sus distintos testimonios, parece incorporar bastante de la tradición anterior. A ellos hay que añadir las indicaciones que, diseminadas a lo largo de los libros 29 y 30, ofrece Plinio en su Naturalis historia, y algunas otras de obras médicas tardías, derivadas en parte del enciclopedista latino. El segundo y el tercero de los textos citados nos han llegado escritos en griego, pero fueron también objeto de traducciones latinas.
Standing Distant from the Fathers: Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel and the Reception of Early Medieval Learning
Authors: Ponesse Matthew
Published: August 2016

Abbot Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel elaborates on the practice of compilation in his ninth-centuryLiber comitis, a compendium of biblical exegesis organized around the readings used in the liturgy. In the preface to this work, he makes it quite clear that the ideas expressed are not his own, but instead derive from the works of the church Fathers:

Seeing that many in the church wisely seek to investigate the mystical sense of the divine scriptures and pluck from them the figurative fruit, I have made an effort to gather one book from many, filled with the flowers of allegory, acting both as an abbreviator and deriver of the tractates and teachings of the great Fathers, namely of Hilary, Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, Cyprian, Cyril, Gregory, Victor, Fulgentius, John Chrysostom, Cassiodorus, Eucharis, Tychonius, Isidore, Figulus, Bede, Primasius, and also of those who must be approached cautiously, such as Pelagius and Origen, as if reducing powerful rivers and whirling eddies of the sea into moderate currents.
Aristotle's Biology and Pastoral Ethics: John of Wales'sDe linguaand British Pastoral Writing on the Tongue
Authors: Craun Edwin D.
Published: August 2016

Lingua congruit in duo opera nature, in gustum scilicet et locucionem, sicut dicit philosophus libro 2 De anima, quorum quidem gustus neccesarium est ad esse, locucio autem est propter bene esse. Et sicut dicit philosophus libro 12 De animalibus, creatio lingue est ad gustandum et sermocinandum.

With these words John of Wales (d. 1285) launches his late thirteenth-century treatise on the tongue,De lingua, a massive collection of preaching materials extensively copied, even sometimes excerpted, in England for nearly two centuries.
Virtutes apostolorum:Origin, Aim, and Use
Authors: Rose Els
Published: August 2016

The history of Christianity shows roughly two ways of remembering the apostles: as acollegiumof twelve and as individual authorities or saints. In the earliest centuries, the reference to Christ's disciples as a group predominates. Both in the visual arts and in writing, “the twelve” are undiscriminated, forming a collective representation of testimony to Christian teaching. Prescriptive writings from the first four centuries dealing with matters of ecclesiastical organization, doctrine, and worship may serve as an example, such as the first-century document entitled “Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles,” better known asDidache, and the second- to fourth-century related sourcesDoctrina apostolorum, Didascalia apostolorum, andConstitutiones apostolicae.
Western Converts to Islam (Later Eleventh to Later Fifteenth Centuries)
Authors: Forey A. J.
Published: August 2016

The early expansion of Islam led in time to widespread conversions of Christians in conquered territories. In the later eleventh century, however, western Christendom was in turn launching offensives against Islam on several fronts. Territorial gains were made in various Mediterranean regions and, although by the end of the thirteenth century the Holy Land had been lost again, Sicily remained in Christian hands, and in the second half of the thirteenth century in the Iberian peninsula only Granada remained under Muslim control: the whole peninsula was under Christian rule before the end of the fifteenth century. This expansion was accompanied, especially in the thirteenth century, by attempts to convert Muslims and other non-Christians. Yet in the period from the late eleventh until the later fifteenth century some western Christians converted to Islam. The purpose of the present paper is to consider the situations that prompted the adoption of Islam, and the reasons for such conversions, although the evidence is usually insufficient to indicate exactly why a particular Christian became a Muslim: the preconceived ideas voiced in western sources about forced conversions can be misleading and, although a crude distinction might be made between conversions from conviction and those based on worldly considerations, motives did not necessarily always fit neatly into just one of these two categories. But obviously not all converts would have had an equal understanding of the nature of Islamic beliefs and practices. The response of western ecclesiastical and secular authorities to renegades will also be considered. Further conversions of Christian peoples who had already for centuries been living under Muslim rule will not be examined, but only the adoption of Islam by those whose origins lay in western Christian countries or who were normally resident in these, and by westerners whose lands were newly conquered by Muslim powers after the eleventh century; and the focus will be mainly, though not exclusively, on the crusader states and the Iberian peninsula.
Papal Legates against the Albigensians: The Debts of the Church of Valence (1215–1250)
Authors: Stutz D. Dudley
Published: August 2016

In 1232 Pope Gregory IX (r. 1227–41) imposed a tenth of episcopal revenues on prelates of Occitania to subsidize the church of Valence, which owed 10,000 poundstournoisto various bankers of Vienne, Rome, Lyons, and Siena. In 1865 B. Hauréau first noted the event when he edited one of the main documents in theGallia christianavolume concerning the ecclesiastical province of Vienne. With the publication of Gregory IX's register from 1890–1908 most of the facts of the tax were more widely available. In 1910 Ulysse Chevalier briefly mentioned the tax in his monograph on the long tenure of John of Bernin, archbishop of Vienne (r. 1218–66). In 1913, Heinrich Zimmermann cited Hauréau's text in a note in his detailed treatment of early thirteenth-century papal legations. Recently Alain Marchandisse reviewed eight of the eleven papal letters pertaining to the tax in his study of William of Savoy (d. 1239) as bishop-elect of Liège. These scholars provided no reason for the debt or why the papacy would take such measures to ensure payment. Perhaps they did not study this tax further because a church indebted to moneylenders is not in itself surprising. It appears that the church of Valence acquired the debt, very large compared to the church's income, when bishop-elect William of Savoy (r. 1225–39) waged war against Adhémar II of Poitiers-Valentinois, count of the Valentinois (r. 1189–1239). Struggles between bishops and the local nobility occurred on a regular basis throughout the Middle Ages, so what in this unimportant Rhone-valley diocese interested the pope enough to impose taxes on prelates of Occitania over twenty years to ensure payment of this debt? Adhémar II faithfully supported Raymond VI (r. 1194–1222) and Raymond VII (r. 1222–49) of Saint-Gilles, counts of Toulouse, throughout their struggle with the papacy during and following the Albigensian crusades. Adhémar II was also their vassal for the Diois, which borders the Valentinois on the southeast and comprised the northern portion of the marquisate of Provence. These lands had been reserved for the church in the Treaty of Meaux-Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian crusades. Thus William of Savoy as bishop-elect of Valence defended the papacy's claims on the marquisate of Provence, which the papacy deemed part of the larger struggle between the Roman church and the counts of Toulouse. The facts on the nature of the debts and the steps the papacy took to aid the diocese show that the local struggle between the bishop of Valence and the count of the Valentinois embodied a part of the larger struggle between the papacy and the counts of Toulouse over the marquisate of Provence, which began as early as 1215.
Early Evidence for the Cult of Anne in Twelfth-Century England
Authors: Ihnat Kati
Published: August 2016

Despite scholarly attention on its later medieval popularity, the feast of Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, first appeared in the West in twelfth-century England. The earliest surviving liturgical texts for the feast were composed in the 1130s by Osbert of Clare, prior of Westminster, for Worcester Cathedral. They attest to the novelty of the celebration and the process by which a saintly identity was constructed for Anne, an apocryphal figure. To understand why Anne began to be celebrated at this time and how her liturgy was crafted, this article explores Osbert's texts in their devotional context. A lively monastic cult of the Virgin Mary in England provides an important backdrop to the emergence of the celebration of Anne. Debates about the Anglo-Saxon feast of Mary's Conception were especially influential, and a comparison between the liturgical texts for the feast of the Conception and the feast of Anne yields striking parallels. This suggests that the liturgy for Anne both drew on and supported the contentious feast of the Conception. At the same time, Anne was presented as a monastic role model, a virtuous and chaste woman with special appeal for nuns. The history and identity of Anne were therefore deeply embedded in trends of monastic devotion to Mary as Anne was shaped into a deserving mother of her illustrious offspring but also as a worthy saint in her own right.