bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of a Novel Recombinant Full-Length IgY Monoclonal Antibody against Human Thymidine Kinase 1 for Automatic Chemiluminescence Analysis on a Sandwich Biotin-Streptavidin Platform for Early Tumour Discovery
Authors: Wang Xiangbin , Li Shan , Zhao Rui , Li Huijun , Gao Peng , Jin Cuicui , Fang Cong , Liu Yongping , Hei Ailian , Zhou Ji , Li Jin , He Ellen , Skog Sven
Published: March 2023

Serum thymidine kinase 1 protein (STK1p) concentration has been used successfully as a reliable proliferating serum biomarker in early tumour discovery and clinical settings. It is detected by an enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) dot blot assay with the biotin-streptavidin (BSA) platform (a gold standard) based on chicken anti-human thymidine kinase 1 IgY polyclonal antibody (hTK1-IgY-pAb). However, ECL dot blotting is a semiautomatic method that has been limited to large-scale applications due to the differences among batches of antibodies from individual hens, and the skill level of operation technicians sometimes results in unstable STK1p values. Therefore, a highly stable recombinant chicken full-length IgY monoclonal antibody in combination with a fully automated sandwich biotin-streptavidin (sandwich-BSA) platform was developed. Hens were immunized with 31-peptide, a key sequence of human TK1 (hTK1), before constructing an immune phage display scFv library. Finally, a recombinant full-length IgY monoclonal antibody (hTK1-IgY-rmAb#5) with high-affinity binding with human recombinant TK1 (rhTK1) (

3.95
×

10

−
10

 mol/L), high sensitivity with hTK1 calibrators (slope of linear curve: 89.98), and high specificity with low/elevated STK1p (

r
≈
0.92

-0.963) was identified. hTK1-IgY-rmAb#5 showed a specific immune response with thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) in TK1-positive/negative cell lysates by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in normal and cancer tissues. In particular, the detection of TK1 serum samples from health centres showed a high coincidence rate (

r
=
0.988
,
n
=
90

) between hTK1-IgY-rmAb#5 and hTK1-IgY-pAb and between the semiautomatic ECL dot blot BSA platform and the novel automatic chemiluminescence sandwich-BSA platform (

r
=
0.857
,
n
=
292

). hTK1-IgY-rmAb#5 is stable and highly sensitive for detecting the lowest STK1p value at 0.01 pmol/L (pM). The accuracy is high (

SD
<
2.5
%

) between different batches. It is easy to use the novel hTK1-IgY-rmAb#5 on a new automatic chemiluminescence sandwich-BSA platform. It will be beneficial for large-scale health screenings.
An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System for Predicting the Energy Consumption of University Residence
Authors: Oladipo Stephen , Sun Yanxia , Adeleke Oluwatobi
Published: March 2023

Future energy planning relies on understanding how much energy is produced and consumed. In response, this study developed a multihybrid adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for students’ residences, using the University of Johannesburg residence, South Africa as a case study. The model input variables are wind speed, temperature, and humidity, with the output being the equivalent energy consumption for the student housing. While the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique is versatile and widely used, it falls short by exhibiting premature convergence. To address this problem, the velocity update equation of the original PSO algorithm is modified by incorporating a dynamic linear decreasing inertia weight, which improves the PSO algorithm’s convergence behaviour and aids both local and global search. Following that, the modified PSO (MPSO) is used to optimize the ANFIS parameters for the best model prediction. A comparative analysis is conducted between the MPSO, the original PSO, and six other hybrid models using a dataset division of 70% for training and 30% for testing. Performance evaluation was carried out using three well-known performance benchmarks: root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute deviation (MAD), and coefficient of variation (RCoV). The experimental results show that the performance of the proposed MPSO-ANFIS outperformed other methods with the least values of the RMSE (1.8928 KWh), MAD (1.5051 KWh), and RCoV (0.1370), respectively. Furthermore, when compared to the PSO-ANFIS, the MPSO-ANFIS demonstrated improvements in RMSE, MAD, and RCoV with 1.58%, 2.11%, and 5.23%, respectively. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the MPSO-ANFIS provides better prediction accuracy which is vital for strategic energy planning.
A Hierarchical Optimal Control of Uncertain and Time-Varying Knowledge Dissemination Model in Complex Network
Authors: Xia Dan , Shen Jian , Mei Jun , Zhang Si
Published: March 2023

In this paper, considering the multifactor influence of the knowledge dissemination process, a new ignorant-knower-spreader-forgetter (IKSF) knowledge dissemination model is proposed, which considers internalization mechanism, degradation mechanism, communication, and willingness, as well as time-varying and uncertain parameters. First, we prove that the knowledge loss equilibrium of the model is globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number

R

0

<
1

, and knowledge is permanent when

R

0

>
1

. Next, improving the willingness of knower individuals and reducing the knowledge degradation function of spreader individuals can make the best effect of propagation; a hierarchical control strategy is designed. At the upper layer, an effective optimal control mechanism of the IKSF knowledge dissemination model is studied to provide optimal control action and minimization costs. At the lower layer, to guarantee robustness control performance and track the control targets, an intervention optimal guaranteed cost control strategy for the IKSF knowledge dissemination system with uncertain parameters is studied. Converting the controller’s design problem into a minimization problem with linear matrix inequalities, not only the impact of uncertain parameters is reduced but also the propagation effect of the knowledge dissemination model is guaranteed. Simulation results confirm our method.
Output Regulation of Switched Stochastic Systems with Sampled-Data Control
Authors: Dong Xiaoxiao , Lan Hui
Published: March 2023

This paper studies the output regulation problem for a class of switched stochastic systems with sampled-data control. Solutions to the output regulation problem are given in two situations. On the one hand, the exogenous signal is assumed to be a constant. By designing a sampled-data state feedback controller, we obtain that the closed-loop system is mean-square exponentially stable and the regulation output tends to zero. On the other hand, the exogenous signal is assumed to be time-varying with bounded derivative. By constructing a class of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and a switching rule which satisfies the average dwell time, sufficient conditions for the solvability of practical output regulation problem are given for switched stochastic systems. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the method.
Un chapitre négligé de la dérivation nominale du grec ancien
Authors: Nieto Izquierdo Enrique
Published: March 2023

This article offers a lexical study of the abbreviated simple personal names in Ancient Greek. Rarer than abbreviated compound names and usually neglected in scientific literature, they can be sorted in different lexical categories: short forms related to gods’ names and their derivatives, which are the commonest, ethnics, and, finally, other vocabulary, mainly descriptive adjectives and names of animals and different objects.
Users’ Experiences of a Web-Based Suicide Prevention Program for College Students: a Mixed Methods Approach
Authors: Shinde Freyana , Wagani Rekha , Sasidhar Kalyan
Published: March 2023

The current pandemic has remarkably increased the dependence on digital interfaces for mental health. This dependency calls for a strong need to check the efficacy of such digital platforms under various contexts. An evaluation study was conducted with participants in an online web-based suicide prevention intervention program named Happetite. The program was found to be not only accessible, but also provided appropriate interventions by processing the inputs from users.
Dilemmas Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Zimbabwe
Authors: Mbulayi Shingirai P. , Makuyana Abigail , Zindi B. , Kang’ethe Simon M.
Published: March 2023

Public hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines stands out as an obstinate barrier to Zimbabwe’s ability to stamp out the ongoing pandemic and steer the country back to socioeconomic normalcy and stability. This qualitative study unpacked the hesitancy factors associated with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Zimbabwe. The study used an exploratory research design and collected its data from social media platforms. Findings demonstrated that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy posed some significant challenges in Zimbabwe. Indications were that hesitancy towards the vaccines was informed by a plurality of factors, which inter alia included safety and efficacy concerns, perceived social character of the vaccine basing on its country of origin, accessibility, people’s socio-cultural and religious beliefs, as well as factors relating to the administrative aspects of the vaccination program. Social work has an important role to play in educating and promoting society to embrace vaccines. This is because continued defiance and/or delay in the uptake of the vaccines is tantamount to mortgaging people’s lives and livelihoods on the altar of fear and baseless hesitancy.
The Post-deconstructive Concept of Evidence
Authors: Garrido Wainer Juan Manuel
Published: March 2023

The general objective of this essay is to systematize Jean-Luc Nancy’s post- deconstructive reflections on the concept of evidence. A general claim of this paper is that the post-deconstructive concept of evidence is genuinely an epistemic concept of evidence insofar as it refers to structures involved in verification processes. Evidence is the presentation of a state of affairs that relates the presentation not only to what we claim about this state of affairs but also to the singular circumstances of its production. Verification (the production of a claim’s truth) results directly from the singularities involved in the production or presentation of evidence. This means that evidence is never exhausted in the truth it produces or the knowledge it validates but remains a priori exposed or available to produce and validate unknown knowledge about unknown states of affairs.
The Impossible Possibility of Community
Authors: Rogozinski Jacob
Published: March 2023

The author analyzes the deconstruction of the community carried out by Jean-Luc Nancy. For Nancy, the aim of the community has been historically accomplished by its self-destruction in the “work of death” of totalitarianism. This does not lead him to renounce the notion of community, like Derrida, but to highlight its paradoxical (im-)possibility. This is why Nancy proposes the concept of a “community without community” which would retain only the cum of the communitas, the with of being-with or being in-common. The author shows that this approach is subject to aporias. Indeed, Nancy wants to base being-with on an ontology of bodily touch. As he considers touching as distancing, displacement, he fails to understand the cum, that is to say the possibility of constituting a community.
Adjudication of International Trade Disputes: From Success to Crisis. What’s Next?
Authors: Sacerdoti Giorgio
Published: March 2023

The WTO Appellate Body ceased to operate at the beginning of 2020, leading to the semi-paralysis of the WTO’s well-functioning dispute settlement system as a consequence of the blockage of the appointment of its members by the US.

This article traces back to the development of trade adjudication within the broader process of the “judicialization” of international relations, from the GATT to the WTO, highlighting the latter’s innovations and successful functioning for more than 20 years.

The US-led paralysis has evidenced the fragility of international adjudication when faced with powerful opposition. It remains to be seen whether the support for revitalizing the WTO and its dispute settlement system expressed by the WTO Members at the Ministerial Conference of June 2022 will result in reinstating a functioning system, capable of meeting the needs of international trade in a global but increasingly politicized and fractured context.
Informal Communications to the International Court of Justice in Cases of Non-appearance
Authors: Eichberger Fabian Simon
Published: March 2023

In recent years, the non-appearance of respondent States has been experiencing a renaissance before the ICJ. Frequently, the practice is concomitant with informal communications by the non-participating party to the Court. The ICJ has been rather generous in considering such communications in light of the obligation under Article 53(2) of its Statute to examine comprehensively and proprio motu its jurisdiction and the merits in cases of non-appearance.

However, informal communications force the Court into a dilemma. For one, they challenge the equality of the parties and the good administration of justice. More generally, taking too lenient an approach allows non-participating States to “have their cake and eat it too”: they try to delegitimize the proceedings while simultaneously presenting their position in a favourable light. This article, therefore, encourages the Court to take a more formal approach regarding informal communications while respecting its duties under Article 53(2) of the Statute.
In the Pursuit of High Purposes: The International Court of Justice, Obligations Erga Omnes and the Prohibition of Genocide
Authors: Figueredo Corrales René
Published: March 2023

The ICJ has asserted that the prohibition of genocide generates both obligations erga omnes and obligations erga omnes partes. While it has recently referred to the question of standing and the erga omnes partes character of the obligations under the Genocide Convention in The Gambia v. Myanmar case, the Court has not yet addressed this question from the perspective of the prohibition of genocide as an obligation erga omnes in a broader context. Hence, the purpose of this article is to examine whether the erga omnes character of the prohibition of genocide under general international law confers upon States a right of standing to invoke State responsibility before the Court, provided that certain conditions are met. Three instances are envisaged through which this could be possible, but for the time being, The Gambia v. Myanmar case remains the most representative one in this matter.
State Immunity in Norwegian Courts
Authors: Motzfeldt Kravik Andreas
Published: March 2023

The article seeks to clarify the scope of state immunity in civil proceedings before Norwegian courts based on recent jurisprudence and other sources of law, both domestic and international. While the concept of restrictive state immunity is now widely seen as settled law, determining the boundaries between government and private acts, and thus the precise scope of state immunity, is inherently challenging. The article examines recent Norwegian case law on state immunity, highlighting commonalities and inconsistencies in the jurisprudence, including with respect to the courts’ reliance on the 2004 United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, which Norway has ratified. The article concludes that the 2004 Convention has, in whole or in part, achieved customary law status and represents a major step forward towards a truly global framework within which national courts can adjudicate state immunity. The article concludes that future cases on state immunity before Norwegian courts should be adjudicated on the basis of the 2004 Convention.
A Dutch Pharmacist in Early Modern Rome
Authors: Golvers Noël
Published: March 2023

The Accademia dei Lincei functioned through the activities and publications of its appointed members, but also through associated collaborators, who themselves profited from the Lincean network. One of these para-Lynceans was Enrico Corvino, a Roman speziale and botanist of great renown. In this paper I look for the testimonies on Corvino’s active and passive network throughout Italy and part of Europe, which was created during visits from foreign apprentices/specialists to his pharmacopolium (pharmacy) and his hortus (on the Gianicolo), and through a correspondence now largely lost; the networking consisted in the exchange of information, but especially in the sending of seeds (semi; campioni) and plants, all this in close collaboration with his son Francesco, who after his father’s death (1639) pursued his work until he died (1679) and his daughter Maddalena, a gifted miniaturist, who produced designs of the plants, a parallel way of irradiation of the Hortus Corvinus and its plants. This original tracking through contemporary European sources reveals many direct and indirect, and so far unknown, connections with prominent European scholars. It also shows a clearer picture of the Roman speziale’s network, started in collaboration with the Accademia, but largely exceeding it after its end in 1630.
Depicting Race
Authors: de Jonge Hans Laurens
Published: March 2023

This paper explores the background and historical context of a newly discovered mid-nineteenth-century portrait of Aquasi Boachi and Kwame Poku, two princes from present-day Ghana who came to the Netherlands in 1837. The portrait—recently acquired by Rijksmuseum Boerhaave—appears to originate from the collection of the Dutch naturalist and physical anthropologist Jan van der Hoeven (1801–1868) the author of one of the fist books on the anthropology of African people to be published in the Netherlands (1842). I will show the portrait was part of a broader anthropological collection, which—apart from a large number of “national skulls”—included “characteristic portraits” of various human races, including Africans. I describe what role the portrait played in Van der Hoeven’s collection and how it reveals deeply held convictions of Van der Hoeven and contemporaries about the fundamental “otherness” of the African race.
“The Lute of Wisdom”
Authors: Veronesi Umberto , Hanß Stefan
Published: March 2023

This article is the first interdisciplinary study of excavated early modern lute, a paste that alchemists wrapped around vessels, contextualising its relevance for the history of science. We explore the material epistemology of the alchemical laboratory by opening a conversation between archaeological sciences and the history of the body, medicine, and science. In an age that valued embodied epistemologies, we argue, medicine mattered for cultures of making and affected alchemists’ material practices. This article combines the scientific analysis of luted glass remains from the sixteenth century Oberstockstall alchemical laboratory in Kirchberg am Wagram, Lower Austria, with the in-depth study of recipe collections, alchemical, botanical, medical, and metallurgical treatises, and visual sources. Based on this methodology, we argue that the alchemist’s material practices were strongly linked to early modern Paracelsian thought and medical understandings of the body. In methodological terms, this article shifts boundaries between historians, archaeologists, and materials scientists.
‘I’m Interviewing a Sheep’
Authors: Pullum Lindsey
Published: March 2023

In this article, I summarize the state of Arabic (as a medium and a message) in Israeli state media and compare attitudes towards the Arabic language with content from the popular bilingual (Arabic-Hebrew) sitcom written and created by a Palestinian-Israeli writer, Sayed Kashua. I argue that Kashua’s work in his show, Arab Labor, reiterates poor attitudes towards Arabic and foreshadows the ethnolinguistic erasure of Israel’s Nation-State Law of 2018. Using humor and satire within its content, context and dialogue, the show draws attention to growing disparities and impossibilities in Palestinian life throughout Israel and emerges as an intertextual resource for commentary and recreating conditions of Palestinian existence.
Corona-Jihad Memes: The Shifting Iconology of Islamophobia from Hindu Nationalists
Authors: Sen Moumita
Published: March 2023

This article analyses the visual rhetoric of anti-Muslim imagery in the memetic internet cultures generated by Indian users, as well as the transnational iconology of terror that the Muslim male body is made to embody. The core problem the article addresses is located at the intersection of three crucial contemporary challenges: the global pandemic, rising global anti-Muslim ideology, and the role of socially mediated popular political imagery. Here, I look at corona-jihad memes – a subset of anti-Muslim popular imagery made viral through social media. These images illustrated the fake news spread globally, connecting Indian Muslims with the pandemic. Here, I show the strategies of representation used by Hindu nationalist users to create an iconology – or a mode of recognition – for the Muslim male as the threatening and dehumanised other, through a process of mimicry, counter-influence, translation, and flow in a rich intermedial world of transnational imagery.
Islam in the News: Persistent yet Changing Characterisations
Authors: Hopner Veronica , Hodgetts Darrin , Nelson Nick , Battersby John
Published: March 2023

Islam and Muslim people feature regularly in news coverage internationally and in Aotearoa New Zealand. Previous research shows a dominant tendency towards the perpetuation of stereotypes of Muslim people as threats to society. Although such international trends are also evident in news items produced in Aotearoa New Zealand, there are also alternative and more positive depictions. Using Newztext Plus to find 583 New Zealand – produced news items and press releases from the Muslim community for the period 2013 to 2018, this article documents the mediated depiction of Muslim people and Islam, intergroup relations with non-Muslim groups, and the range of contemporary issues that were covered. Findings are presented in three interrelated sections: (1) positive and inclusive depictions evident through the lens of peace, tolerance, and inclusivity; (2) persistently negative stereotypes through the lens of violence and terrorism; (3) the contestation of negative depictions by Muslim leaders and inter-faith allies. This article sets the groundwork to foreground some of the complexities around positive and negative depictions of Islam in news coverage leading up to the Christchurch terror attacks. Future research will explore if and how depictions change in light of the events of March 15, 2019.
“Covered, Not Bound”: Young Dawoodi Bohra Women’s Self-Representation and Agency through the Online Website Mighzal
Authors: Hussain Arwa
Published: March 2023

Mighzal, an online website managed by a team of young Bohra women from various parts of the world, is an online blog/space that is meant to “reflect the myriad dreams, concerns, and preoccupations of practicing Dawoodi Bohra women”. This paper will examine the various blogs, art, and pieces on Mighzal and the profile of its core team members, using digital ethnography and participant observation, to ask how young Dawoodi Bohra women are actively participating in the creation of their own discourses while negotiating and questioning discourses of gender and religious stereotyping that they encounter in their daily lives. How do these representations contribute to the creation of a unique form of agency? How have these spaces enabled them to assert their identities and distinct modes of dress? This paper also draws on the author’s own encounter with these online spaces, and the questions that have been posed here, as a practicing member of the community.
Country Visits: Report on a Visit to the Ainu and Lessons for the Arctic
Authors: Alfredsson Gudmundur
Published: March 2023

A delegation from the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) visited the Ainu of Japan in 1991. After describing the activities undertaken by the WGIP-team and the issues and people encountered, the article goes on to argue in favour of such visits by delegations of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations and academic institutions, as well as the active use of available fact-finding and monitoring procedures. It is important that such visits result in official reports that receive the widest possible distribution; they should not least reach senior politicians and officials who are often uninformed about the situations facing indigenous peoples in their countries. The report from the WGIP visit to the Ainu in 1991 is annexed to the present article.
Implementing the 2017 Arctic Science Cooperation Agreement: Challenges and Opportunities as regards Russia and Japan
Authors: Sergunin Alexander , Shibata Akiho
Published: March 2023

This study sought to identify the major barriers to the implementation of the Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation (2017) and to uncover ways of facilitating the Agreement that may enhance Russia–Japan scientific cooperation in the High North. The Russia–Japan case exemplifies the difficulties as well as the potentials of the Agreement in enhancing Arctic scientific cooperation between Arctic states and non-Arctic states. Ultimately, the study identified several possible ways to facilitate the Agreement’s implementation. This paper first examines these means within the Agreement’s legal framework; more specifically, it explores how to operationalize the effective review process established under Art.12, utilize the 2000 Japan-Russia bilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement to implement Art.17 on ‘Cooperation with non-Parties’, identify Arctic research projects and infrastructure available under the Agreement, and designate appropriate authorities as contact points under Annex 2 of the Agreement. The paper then examines the potential of linking the Agreement’s implementation with other forums and institutions. In particular, it recognizes the Arctic Council as a platform for enhancing Arctic scientific cooperation and considers how cooperation within various Arctic professional organizations and associations may be revived and how to create synergy between the Agreement and Arctic Science Ministerial processes. This paper’s discussion is largely based on information and political contexts before February 24, 2022, but the concluding section provides a few policy suggestions specific to the implementation of the Agreement in light of the post-Ukraine situation.
Recalcitrant Materialities of a Liminal Ocean: Deconstructing the ‘Arctic Nomos’
Authors: Tsiouvalas Apostolos
Published: March 2023

Published in 1950, Carl Schmitt’s Nomos of the Earth has been one of the most influential contributions in legal theory, illustrating inter alia the territorial conceptualization of the Eurocentric global legal order. While the Earth’s nomos has been largely hinged on the constructed ontology of a land-sea dichotomy and the appropriation and division of space through the establishment of sovereignty upon it, this article contends that the particular geomorphology of the Arctic seascape, the multiscalar dynamics of Arctic politics, and the rapid pace of change in the region render the Arctic spatial order rather intricate and may challenge the existing territorial application of state sovereignty. After critically deconstructing the process of territorialization of the Arctic Ocean, the article delves into three conceptual challenges – one ontological, one epistemological, and one technological respectively – pertinent to the juridical imaginary of the ‘Arctic nomos’ engraved by sovereignty, and seeks to expose the limits of the existing regime in place.
The Pan-Arctic Report on Gender Equality in the Arctic: Moving Forward!
Authors: Svensson Eva-Maria , Ágústsson Hjalti Ómar , Oddsdóttir Embla Eir
Published: March 2023

This article takes as its starting-point the Pan-Arctic report on Gender Equality in the Arctic (GEA report) and, in specific, the chapter on law and governance. Its aim is to provide an overview of the report’s chapter on law & governance. It provides a discussion on why gender equality is important in general and more specifically in the Arctic region, followed by a review of the chapter on law and governance and its findings through policy relevant highlights. The report demonstrated that Arctic governance does not prioritise gender equality and, more generally, that the goal of gender equality is not fulfilled within the region. The chapter on law and governance highlights the need for shared gender equality commitments in Arctic public governing bodies and for a gender equality policy for the Arctic Council, including the application of an intersectional approach. Further, that Arctic States should collaborate to incorporate gender into the development of Arctic strategies. Finally, the report’s recommendations, major areas of research interest and the next steps are discussed.
When Space Is to Be Shared
Authors: Kühle Lene
Published: March 2023

Shiʿa Muslims constitute 10–15% of Danish Muslims, but until recently they lacked public visibility. Within the last decade, the number of Shiʿa mosques and other places of worship in Denmark has doubled, but the change in terms of the group’s public presence is even more significant than this. This article compares Denmark’s leading Shiʿa organisation with its Sunni counterpart in terms of the physical presence of places of worship and participation in public life. It discusses based on the concept of public religion (Casanova 1994) how Shiʿa Muslims have become the most visible representative of Islam in Denmark due to a mix of factors.
For the Greater Good: Common Goals and Institutional Sunni–Shiʿa Cooperation in Norway
Authors: Elgvin Olav
Published: March 2023

Under what circumstances do Sunni and Shiʿa organisations enter into institutional cooperation with each other? This article explores this question through a study of Muslim institutional cooperation in Norway from the late 1980s to the late 2010s, based on both archival sources and qualitative interviews. This period witnessed at first a very tight cooperation between Sunni and Shiʿa organisations, before the cooperation collapsed in the 1990s. In the 2010s Sunnis and Shiʿa again started to cooperate closely. The article seeks to interpret this development through the theory of superordinate or common goals or uniting against a third party. Sunnis seemed to invite the Shiʿa in when they had a clear common goal in the form of an external threat. Even though conditions vary, I argue that this mechanism may have played a role in the development of cooperation between Sunni and Shiʾa organisations in other countries as well.
Sunni–Shi‘a Relations in Europe
Authors: Corboz Elvire
Published: March 2023

The overall intention of the special issue ‘The Dynamics of Sunni–Shi‘a Relations in Europe’ is to call for a new research initiative aimed at establishing the significance of European Muslim-minority contexts for the study of Sunni–Shi‘a dynamics. This article outlines the potential to contribute to the scholarship on sectarianism and the literature on Muslims in Europe. While also previewing the five articles included in the special issue, it proposes a framework to unpack the diverse nature and complex shaping of Sunni–Shi‘a relations in European contexts.
The Formation of Kazakh Officialdom and Its Incorporation into the Russian Imperial System of Administration
Authors: Uderbaeva Saule K.
Published: March 2023

This paper analyses the processes taking place in the formation of a Kazakh bureaucratic elite and its integration into the Russian imperial system of administration. It developed due to certain changes in the social structure of Kazakh society during the second half of the 19th-early 20th centuries. As a new class of Kazakh officials was created, most of them became faithful executors of Russian imperial policies in the steppe. The state encouraged the activities of all kinds of Kazakh officials with awards commensurate to their rank. However, only a few of these Kazakh officials had high-achieving careers. The analysis here focuses on the biographies of the sultans Ghazi (Ghazy) Bulatovich Valikhanov, and Ish Muhamed Suyuk-ogly Abylaikhanov, which illustrate the predominance of those with illustrious origins being among the prominent Kazakh employees of that time.
Turkestan’s Place in the Russian Empire
Authors: Khalid Adeeb
Published: March 2023

This article examines Turkestan’s position in the tsarist empire to argue that it was a distinctly colonial territory, directly comparable to the overseas colonies of other contemporary empires and less like other older parts of the Russian empire. This article locates Turkestan’s coloniality not in formal structures, but in its immense distance — moral, political and legal — from the metropolis and the imperial authorities’ use of Islam as a marker of immutable difference.
Semirechensk Cossacks in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries: from Military Class to Ethnic Group
Authors: Bizhigitova Karlygash S.
Published: March 2023

The article discusses issues related to the history of the Semirechensk Cossacks during the 19th and 20th centuries. The author focuses on the problem of the transformation of the identity of the Cossacks during this period. The author makes an attempt to show how, under the influence of various factors and conditions, the Cossacks passed a difficult and contradictory path: from a military, privileged class in the Tsarist period to an ethnic minority, then dissolution among the Russian ethnos in the Soviet epoch, and at the end of the 20th century their pursuit to be an ethno-cultural community. According to the author, the self-identification of the Cossacks and their external identification by the state did not always coincide in different historical periods. There were periods when self-identification and external identification of the Cossacks did not contradict each other and, on the contrary, there were moments when the state, based on its interests and goals, acted as a determining force influencing the formation of the group identity of the Cossacks, using various mechanisms and tools.
The Turkestan Statute and the Reorganization of Administrative Divisions in Central Asia, 1886-1917: a Case Study of Jizzakh District
Authors: Bazarbaev Akmal
Published: March 2023

For both political and economic reasons, the Russian Empire sought to establish administrative units in Central Asia based on taxonomic principles relating to governmental control, taxation, and land use. From the first years after the conquest, the colonial authorities introduced various new types of political divisions in the region. But the most foundational step in this process was the Turkestan Statute of 1886, which formally enumerated the requirements and naming conventions for establishing official administrative units. It is clear from the available sources that, before the 1886 statute, colonial efforts to establish administrative control, taxation, and regulated land use were sporadic and imprecise at best. For this reason, the Turkestan statute pressured colonial administrators to reconstitute administrative units that did not meet the requirements of the new Russian statutes. In this respect, the colonial officials tried to find a balance between the law and political-economic interests in reorganizing political divisions. This paper examines the reasons for the rearrangement of administrative units and the differences between the law and the bureaucratic views of colonial officials in this process. Its primary objective is to delineate ways in which colonial administrators used laws to consolidate administrative control, taxation, and land use in the process of redistribution of administrative-territorial units. My argument is that colonial officials implemented reorganization in some administrative units but not in others: in some cases, redistribution took place in administrative units that did not meet the political and economic interests of the colonial authorities, or colonial officials flouted the law altogether. In other cases, the colonial administration did not engage in redistribution of administrative units that did not pose a problem in governance and tax collection despite the fact that they were in violation of the requirements of the Turkestan statute.
The Social Status of Muslim Women in Turkestan before and after Russian Colonization
Authors: O’rinovna Hidirova Nargiza
Published: March 2023

The article provides a historical review of some facts to reveal, in general terms, the place of Muslim women in Turkestan, including their roles in family and society during the pre-colonial period. As a result of the conquest of Central Asia by the Russian Empire and the establishment of the Governorate-General of Turkestan, the Russian administration began to consider the issues of Muslim women as an important aspect of its colonial policy. The Russian colonial authorities were attentive to this issue in order to strengthen their position in the region and weaken the influence of Islam among the local (mostly sedentary) population. Representatives of the colonial administration tried to influence Muslim women through intermediaries in the form of educated Russian, Tatar, and Jewish women. By comparing two periods at the start and end of the Russian imperial era, it is possible to see the image of a Muslim woman at various stages of history.
Nallino in Iran. La ricezione degli avanzamenti scientifici di Carlo Alfonso Nallino (1872-1937)
Authors: Ghassemlou Farid
Published: March 2023

Al momento della stesura di questo articolo sono trascorsi circa ottantacinque anni da quando i risultati delle ricerche del grande orientalista Carlo Alfonso Nallino sono stati ricordati per la prima volta in Iran in lingua persiana. Quelle prime citazioni in un testo in lingua persiana facevano riferimento alle opinioni di Nallino sulla storia dell’astronomia in età islamica. In seguito, con il passare del tempo, i riferimenti a Nallino in persiano si faranno più numerosi, riguardando le sue ricerche sulla storia dell’astronomia d’età islamica, sulla storia della filosofia islamica e sulla storia della lingua araba. Il ricorso agli studi di Nallino in Iran non si è limitato al solo XX secolo, ma è proseguito anche nel XXI, con particolare attenzione alle sue ricerche nel campo della storia dell’astronomia islamica, citate sovente nella pubblicistica in lingua persiana, dove Nallino viene ricordato con grande ammirazione per l’elevato livello scientifico dei suoi lavori. Almeno uno dei suoi articoli e uno dei suoi saggi sono stati tradotti integralmente in lingua persiana.
The Dilemma of Consent to International Arbitration in Investment Agreements without a Forum
Authors: Tupa Fernando
Published: March 2023

This monograph addresses the sometimes overlooked yet fundamental principle that consent to international arbitration is forum-specific, and explores its significance and practical consequences in investment arbitration. This monograph contends that if there is no arbitral forum mentioned in the relevant dispute settlement provision of an investment agreement, the forum specified therein becomes unavailable for some reason, or a subsequent agreement on a forum is required between the parties to the dispute, there is only consent “in principle” to international arbitration in the investment agreement. Such expression of “consent” is unenforceable and ineffective, which means that a foreign investor would not be entitled to unilaterally initiate an investment claim against the host State under said agreement absent a subsequent agreement between the foreign investor and the host State on an arbitral forum. This monograph also shows that there is an explicit requirement of a forum-specific consent in the arbitral rules of the often-used arbitral institutions. In addition, the most-favored nation clause in investment agreements could not be applied to overcome the lack of forum in dispute settlement provisions. Finally, this monograph proposes possible avenues to tackle the absence of an agreed-upon forum in an investor-State dispute settlement provision, draws some conclusions and warns against the dangerous consequences of ignoring this basic principle.
Youth Comparsas in Valparaíso (Chile): Artivism, Performativity and Repertoire of Ecological Political Action
Authors: Bronfman Paulina , Alvarez Ricardo
Published: March 2023

Comparsas are known as group of people dressed in a similar way who participate in carnivals playing music, dancing and representing something. In Latin America the term was used for group of performers in urban carnivals in places such as Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Montevideo (Uruguay) in xix century, including Afro rhythms. These comparsas porteñas have been the main influence for youth comparsas formed in Valparaíso Region in Chile during this century who have identified with the demands of public education and ecological claims.

This paper explores and analyses if these comparsas from Valparaíso can be viewed as a form of artivism considering their aesthetic, performative and ecological political demands as repertoire of action, analysing one of them (Conga Comparsa La Kalle) as a case study. Furthermore, this paper will seek to understand the intersections between youth artivism, music and performativity within a history of environmental movements and demands in Chile.
Insularity and Musical Horizons in Madagascar. Local Networks, Global Connection and Vice Versa
Authors: Mallet Julien
Published: March 2023

In Madagascar, musical genres that were previously exclusively regional have been broadcast nationwide for a few years. One of the notable changes concerning representations lies in the transition from identity referents linked to regional and/or ethnic affiliations to referents (assigned by the capital’s media) belonging to a globalizing register: mafana music (“hot music”).

Artists, taken in this category, have migrated to the capital and are building new musical forms combining regional or ethnic repertoires and international modern forms, in particular by affirming and claiming a Black belonging through borrowings from modern African and North American musical genres.

The article will focus on reflecting on globalization as a horizon. An alarming economic reality, an unequal social order, strong relations of domination and dependence at the local, national and global levels, are realities that strongly mark Madagascar. However, we will see how the actors of the music studied come in part and in their own way to challenge this context by an original local/global articulation. From the so-called mafana music we will see how local music genres were formed and have built meaning by connecting to global horizons.

Carried in part by young women from dominated regions and marginalized communities and who have become stars, this phenomenon refers to multiple imaginaries. It is among other things to be understood in a context of inter-ethnic relations at the national level, inherited from the colonial system and mobilizing stereotyped representations between merina (historically dominant ethnic group, of the capital) and coastal, through oppositions “white” / “black”, “Asian type” / “African type”, “civilized” / “savage”, unbridled /measured sexuality... The article will focus on analyzing the processes of positive reappropriation of these stereotypes (transition from the status of black women / coastal mainty to that of national black stars) and the articulation of the phenomenon to new regional (Indian Ocean) and international (France) mobilities through community networks that are set up via the diaspora and the internet (Youtube, Facebook).

At the heart of identity reformulations, these musics shake up categories and the established order. Taken in emerging markets, deploying through new networks and circulations from below, they are at the center of contemporary mutations where insularity and expanded horizons are entangled.
When Lockdowns Force “Everyone” to Work From Home: Inequalities in Telework During COVID-19 in Uruguay
Authors: Dodel Matías , Acosta María Julia
Published: March 2023

Working from home (WFH) arrangements have been on the rise globally throughout the 21st century. Despite this trajectory, developing economies have trailed developed countries in adopting such arrangements. However, because of COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing measures, countries such as Uruguay, where teleworking was scarce and unregulated, were forced to adopt this practice to ensure business continuity. Under such conditions, preexisting organizational and individual disparities stratified the likelihood of WFH during the pandemic. Conventional wisdom holds that the main determinants potential-to-telework stems almost exclusively from the nature of jobs themselves. This article expands the traditional understanding of telework determinants by showing that during the first stages of the pandemic, individual features of the worker, and organizational and managerial features of the employer, were both determinative of the likelihood that a given worker would work from home. We conducted a secondary data analysis of the March 2020 wave of the Work Monitor, a web-based survey of 847 employed Uruguayan adults. We fitted several multivariate regression models predicting (a) the odds of working for a company which adopted COVID-19-related teleworking policies at least for some workers and (b) the odds of WFH as a consequence of COVID-19. As the adoption of telework was largely unplanned and abrupt, results show that disparities on organizational adoption of teleworking policies were related to pre-pandemic differences across organizations in terms of preparedness, technological investment, and management practices. Results also show that employers’ willingness to enable WFH policies was the strongest predictor, at any level, of the likelihood of individuals to telework during the national emergency. Individual disparities in terms of human capital also have a great impact on the likelihood of teleworking during lockdowns, but their effect depends on the existence of organizational teleworking policies. Findings’ implications for the present and future of telework in developing countries are discussed.
Ideas endorsed, credit claimed: Managerial credit claiming weakens the benefits of voice endorsement on future voice behavior through respect and work group identification
Authors: Johnson Hana , Wu Wen , Zhang Yihua , Lyu Yijing
Published: March 2023

Does endorsement of employees’ constructive voice always result in more voice behavior in the future? Although it is often assumed that endorsement is a critical predictor of future voice behavior, we argue that this effect is contingent on whether managers claim credit for their employees’ voice. Drawing from the group engagement model, we first predict that endorsement will be positively associated with voicing employees’ perceived respect within the group, while managers’ credit-claiming behaviors will be negatively associated with such respect. We then further predict that credit-claiming behaviors serve as a boundary condition to the positive association between endorsement and respect, such that when levels of credit claiming by managers are higher, the positive association between endorsement and respect will be weakened. Higher levels of respect, in turn, are associated with higher levels of work group identification and then higher levels of future voice behavior. Results from a multi-wave survey field study in China and a scenario experiment in the United States offer support for our model. Our findings suggest an important but neglected form of managerial response to voice – credit claiming – and highlight its detrimental effect on motivating future voice behavior despite voice endorsement.