bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Incidence of Sinunasal Disease in Laryngectomized Patients
Authors: Sesterhenn Andreas M. , Fiedler Gordon , Müller Hans-Helge , Wiegand Susanne , Folz Benedikt J. , Werner Jochen A.
Published: April 2008

Objectives: Patients having a total laryngectomy for cancer of the larynx or the hypopharynx are faced with tremendous physical and emotional challenges. Nasal airflow, which transports potentially pathogenic substances into the nose, is almost completely interrupted after laryngectomy. Postlaryngectomy patients are estimated to suffer less frequently from sinunasal diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the incidence of sinunasal disorders in patients before and after laryngectomy retrospectively. Patients and Methods: A questionnaire was designed comprising items addressing specific symptoms of sinunasal disease. Results: The questionnaire was answered by 104 laryngectomized patients. Common colds occurred less frequently (p < 0.0001) as well as acute and chronic sinusitis (p = 0.0168) after laryngectomy. In comparison, the incidence of rhinorrhea increased significantly (p < 0.0001). Medical interventions for sinunasal disorders were rarely necessary and surgical interventions remained reserved for exceptional cases. Conclusion: Sinunasal diseases seem to affect laryngectomized individuals less frequently than before laryngectomy.
Agricultural Research in a Centrally Planned Economy: The Case of Rapeseed Research in the People's Republic of China (PRC)
Authors: Tanaka Keiko
Published: April 2008

Rapeseed has played an important role in the agriculture of the PRC for millennia as a source of edible oil, industrial products, organic fertilizer and, recently, animal feed. For the last 46 years, the PRC has experienced several dramatic shifts in the political and social environment for rapeseed research. This paper examines the scientific and technical literature on rapeseed since 1949 and identifies the relationship between agricultural research activities and major political and economic transitions in China. The analysis of the rapeseed literature shows: (1) how vulnerable agricultural research in the PRC has been to fluctuations in the political and economic environment, and (2) how the foci of rapeseed research shifted from the pre-reform to the post-reform era. This paper concludes with: (1) some observations about the differences in the role of agricultural research in a socialist and capitalist country, (2) implications about the relationship between political and economic reforms, and agricultural research.
The Changing Roles of Thailand's Lay Nuns (Mae Chii)
Authors: Gosling David L.
Published: April 2008

While the community development activities of Thai monks have received a good deal of attention, little consideration has been given to women, who are traditionally excluded from full membership of the sangha. These are, however, women lay practitioners of Buddhism known as mae chii, who are increasingly undertaking social roles which are similar and, in some cases, complementary to those of the monks. Such roles on the part of both monks and mae chii need to be set within the context of Tambiah's work on the worldly aspects of Thai Buddhism and his emphasis on the need to explore the continuities and the transformations between the anthropology and the history of religion.
Parent-Child Coresidence and Quasi-Coresidence in Peninsular Malaysia
Authors: Ngin ChorSwang , DaVanzo Julie
Published: April 2008

This paper reports the findings from focus group discussions and ethnographic interviews that were conducted in 1996 in Malay, Chinese and Indian communities in Peninsular Malaysia. Whereas a common perception in the literature is that formal parent-child coresidence remains the ideal, many urban participants of all ethnic groups felt that quasi-coresidence-parents and their adult children living nearby and assisting each other but not actually coresiding was a desirable arrangement, but there were different degrees of emphasis and different motivations, depending on the traditional pressure on coresidence and their experience with urban living. Multiple forces are shaping decisions regarding intergenerational living arrangements, including religion, traditional ideals regarding post-marital residence, labour market opportunities and women's participation in urban employment, availability and cost of housing, needs for childcare, people's experience with rural and urban living, and the health status and socioeconomic status of the elderly.
The Role of Formal Versus Informal Support of the Elderly in Singapore: Is There Substitution?
Authors: Chan Angelique
Published: April 2008

This paper examines the relationship between formal and familial support of Singaporean elderly using data from the 1995 National Survey of Senior Citizens. We test whether the availability of formal support is associated with a decrease in the propensity of elderly individuals to rely on children. The findings show that elderly respondents with CPF accounts are significantly less likely to rely on children as their main source of financial support. Other socioeconomic characteristics of seniors have significant effects on reliance on children. Older seniors, females, seniors with little or no education, widowers, and seniors in poor health, and Chinese elderly, are significantly more likely to rely on children. The evidence suggests that as CPF coverage widens, reliance on children will probably decrease.
Intergenerational Exchanges: Qualitative Evidence from Singapore
Authors: Mehta Kalyani
Published: April 2008

The paper compares the findings on intergenerational exchanges from two sets of focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted in Singapore. The FGDs were held among the Chinese, Malay and Indian elderly (above 60 years), the near elderly (50-59 years) and adult children (30-49 years). The findings indicated that there was a considerable amount of support exchanges between the older generations and their children. Elderly men tended to perform tasks outside the home, while elderly women's functions were usually restricted within the home. While the near elderly were active both in the workforce and at home, they had lower expectations from their children regarding support in old age in contrast to the elderly. Cross-cultural nuances emerged. The Chinese tended to state their future expectations, especially financial, clearly to their children while the Malays and Indians left it to the conscience of their offspring. Across all the ethnic groups, participants reiterated their desire to save and provide inheritance to their children, although cultural priorities differed.
Gandhi On Daniel 6
Authors: Smith-Christopher Daniel L.
Published: April 2008

Cultural exegesis represents an attempt to take seriously the issue of the perspective and background of the contemporary reader of the biblical text, particularly given differences in culturally determined perception. The promise of a "cultural exegesis" is not merely the recognition of cultural influence in textual interpretation, but the possibility that these culturally influenced interpretations can provide new directions for critical analysis for all scholars, and not only for those who share the cultural orientation of the specific reader suggesting a particular reading or interpretation. This paper takes Mahatma Gandhi's observations on Daniel 6 as a possible case of "culturally influenced" interpretation. Some of Gandhi's comments anticipate some of the more recent trends in the analysis of Daniel 1-6, while others lead in new critical directions entirely. At issue is not whether or not Gandhi was "correct" in his interpretation and use of the Daniel motif, but whether his comments (which drew on his particular cultural background by comparing Daniel to such Hindu figures as Mirabai) provide the basis for new scholarly investigations of historical as well as contemporary interpretations of the Daniel stories.
The System and the Speaking Subject in the Hebrew Bible: Reading for Divine Abjection
Authors: Beal Timothy K.
Published: April 2008

What appears to be self-evident in biblical studies—what "can be assumed"— may in fact be quite problematic. Invariably and unquestionably, scholars of Micah 1:8-9 identify its speaker as the prophet rather than YHWH. Yet when one tugs at a few loose threads, that supposedly self-evident reading unravels. After problematizing that identification, this paper argues for reading YHWH as the profoundly unstable speaking subject of this abjectionable dirge. As such, the divine subject of this prophetic discourse is rendered entirely ambivalent, sweeping through and among the people with all the rage and all the grief of absolute disorientation. Understood thus, the book of Micah opens with a theophany of, in Julia Kristeva's terms, a "subject on trial," brought about by the "fracture of a symbolic code which can no longer 'hold' its (speaking) subjects" (1986a:30). This reading, which draws inspiration from Kristeva's theories of textuality and the construction of the speaking subject in discourse, is placed in intertextual tension with Kristeva's own reading of the biblical God in The Powers of Horror (1982), which, ironically, depicts that divine subject as the stable, univocal Guarantor of patriarchal order. Thus this paper is intended to problematize Kristeva's reading of the divine subject of biblical discourse, even while it depends heavily on her theoretical work to evolve a new reading of the text.
Kinship, Discipleship, and Movement: an Anthropological Study of John's Gospel
Authors: Destro Adriana , Pesce Mauro
Published: April 2008

In John's Gospel, the Jesus movement is represented as developing in an environment in which kinship was the primary social matrix. Combining exegetical research and anthropological analysis, the article highlights the relation between two Jewish-Palestinian social forms, coexisting within the Jesus movement: discipleship and kinship (1:35-51). In the social imagination of John, the group of disciples allows for the participation of the mother and the brothers (2:12). Kinship, however, undergoes some modifications. First, the kinship system is no longer a unique instrument for the attribution of roles. Jesus, his mother and the brothers interact dialectically, moving between acceptance and rejection (at Cana and Sukkot). Second, the kinship system is characterized by the absence of the fathers. This anomaly introduces flexibility and indefiniteness into the roles. The disappearance of wide lineages and of male relatives of women modifies contexts and re-situates all the characters. Male functions are taken on by women in substitutive ways. On the other hand, discipleship is influenced in turn by kinship, which offers unquestionable social support to Jesus and his disciples, as is shown by the mediating function of the mother at Cana and the "adivising" function of the brothers. Kinship also takes on an integrative role in the movement, as in the case of the unnamed disciple and the mother at the cross (19:25-27). In Jesus' last words, discipleship is remodelled on the basis of kinship criteria and logic. To be "in possession of" Mary, the mother, alters the balance of power within the movement.
Making and Breaking an Agreement Mediterranean Style: a New Reading of Galatians 2:1-14
Authors: Esler Philip F.
Published: April 2008

Building on earlier research by the author indicating that the situation which Paul had previously encountered in Antioch was closely related to that facing him in Galatia, in that both involved demands by Jewish Christians that Gentile members of the congregations be circumcised to solve the problem caused by mixed eucharistic table-fellowship, this article develops one aspect of this position by arguing that Peter was actively advocating the circumcision of the Antiochean Gentiles and that this involved a direct breach of the agreement previously reached in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1-10). It is suggested that much contemporary opposition to this possibility rests upon the anachronistic imposition of modern notions of fair play upon ancient Mediterranean social relations. To avoid this outcome, the author employs a model of social interaction based on the agonistic pattern of challenge and response within the framework of the honour/shame culture as developed recently within the field of Mediterranean anthropology. The model is used to pose a set of new and socially realistic questions to the text. The central issues which emerge in a fresh light using this methodology include: (a) the impact of bringing the uncircumcised Titus into Jerusalem as a provocative challenge to those advocating circumcision of Gentile members of the congregations; (b) the severe shame occasioned to those in Jerusalem who had actively but unsuccessfully sought the circumcision of Titus; (c) an interpretation of the meaning of the agreement in Gal. 2:9 as the declaration of peace after a period of hostility, a peace which consisted of an acknowledgement of the legitimacy of mixed Jewish-Gentile table-fellowship in Paul's communities; (d) pressure motivated by the desire for revenge by those shamed in Jerusalem with respect to Titus as explaining the subsequent change of attitude of James (and Peter); and (e) the meaning of 'Ioin Gal. 2:14 as "to become Jews (through circumcision)," for which there is shown to be ancient support in the commentary of Ambrosiaster.
Killing Two Birds With One Stone: the Utter De(Con)Struction of Matthew and His Church
Authors: Bubar Wallace W.
Published: April 2008

Since its very inception, the institutional church has interpreted Matt. 16:13-20 in such a way as to confer authority upon itself. Roman Catholics especially, but Protestants too, have claimed that the passage bestows power, prestige, and supremacy upon their respective structures. As long as the passage continues to be examined in isolation, it will certainly lend itself to that sort of interpretation. I propose, however, a radical departure from this hermeneutic. Deconstruction provides the biblical exegete with a whole new set of critical tools-tools that allow him or her to read the Gospel of Matthew in an innovative way. In this paper I apply several techniques of deconstructive theory to the aforementioned passage in an effort to uncover alternative meanings which, though perhaps not evident upon superficial inspection, are valid nonetheless. By creatively analyzing how Matt. 16:13-20 functions within the larger context of the Gospel of Matthew, I shall demonstrate that the text undermines itself.
Unfaithful Passions: Coding Women Coding Men in Jeremiah 2-3 (4:2)
Authors: PETE DIAMOND A.R. , O'Connor Kathleen M.
Published: April 2008

This close reading of Jeremiah 2:1-4:2 uses critical theory on narrative, metaphor and reader response to investigate the gender symbolism in the text in order to assess its governing symbolic grammar, rhetorical function and reception. Jeremiah's metaphor of the broken marriage functions as a root metaphor that unifies and narratizes the disparate materials in these chapters. The variants between the MT and the LXX Vorlage appear as alternative performances of Jeremiah's metaphor. The majority of variants cluster around the female addressee as a means to ruin the latter's image and sharpen national application of the metaphor. Jeremiah re-encodes Hosea's version of the marriage metaphor to serve new circumstances and create a new configuration of readers. The essay concludes with a contemporary, feminist assessment of Jeremiah's gender symbolism in relation to violence against women.
Job and Religion At Its Best
Authors: Lacocque Andre
Published: April 2008

This essay takes seriously (1) the non-Israelite provenance of every character in Job; (2) the shift in the use of general appellations of God in the dialogues to the one of the Tetragrammaton in the final theophany; and (3) the common error on the part of every protagonist of deducing from the natural order a principle of retributive justice in the social and moral world. It is here suggested that these elements create a framework of (onto)logical theism that is broken by the intervention of YHWH, of whom Job previously had only an intuition, when Job discovered that the retributive justice principle of wisdom could not be maintained on the basis of his experience. But if indeed everything is not following cosmic laws, but depends upon dialogical relations, then God is shown vulnerable and expecting as much from Job as Job is expecting from God. As for Job, innocent as he was in the light of justice, he realizes that he is guilty in the light of love. Hence, the whole book pivots around the fundamental question at the beginning: "Is it for nought ... ?"
Rocking the Boat: Jonah and the New Historicism
Authors: Sherwood Yvonne
Published: April 2008

This reading is about critical versions of texts and how they survive (or over-live) in the critical imagination. It looks at three readings of the book of Jonah, from 1550, 1781-2 and 1860, the first freezing the moment where Jonah is catapulted from the boat as the narrative's single defining moment, the second abstracting the image of Jonah looking out over Nineveh and snarling over God's change of mind, and the third zooming in on the body of the whale, its species, jawsize and body weight. In each case it is clear that the book of Jonah (and thus the Bible) is not hermetically sealed off from culture nor merely read against a cultural background, but that the "Bible" and "Society," text and context, are held in complex and reciprocal lines of force. The story of Jonah, the whale, God and the Ninevites is a stage where the transformed fears and anxieties of cultures are acted out, and gives back to society a transformed, idealised, picture of itself.
Rahab: a Hero/Ine?
Authors: Mckinlay Judith E.
Published: April 2008

Can Rahab be regarded as a hero/ine? I ask this question, aware that the context of my reading is that of twentieth-century Aotearoa New Zealand, and that different communities read textual dynamics in different ways, and that texts allow this. But if there is an interpretive open-endedness, so that in narrative terms one may ask whether Rahab is saviour, or traitor, or victim, the story as it is told appears to have been shaped for Israelite listeners, with Israel's interests encoded. For whose voice do we hear in Rahab's long speech to the spies? A Canaanite Rahab? Or a Rahab who is an Israelite construct? The text has led the reader to accept its assumptions that foreign/outsider women are sexually available and can be bought, just as their land lies there for the taking. The reader is provided with Rahab as the model in reading the situation as an Israelite, for she herself has read and entered Israel's ideological world. The making of Rahab the hero/ine is part of the "semiotic economy" of Israel. But if Rahab is a hero/ine, not only is there a danger here for ancient Canaanites, but other dominant cultures may identify with the voice of the text which justifies taking others' land, and those who have already lost to Christian invaders may be led to read against their history and identity. Such issues force me to face the costliness of such co-opting. If Rahab is a hero/ine, then let the reader read again.
Physiognomie Oder Gotteslob? 4Q301 3
Authors: Lange Armin
Published: April 2008

Aus paläographischen, formalen und inhaltlichen Gründen kann 4Q301 3 nicht physiognomisch interpretiert werden. Bei dem noch erhaltenen Text handelt es sich vielmehr um einen Hymnus auf Gottes Gnade und Zorn sowie sein eschatologisches Heilshandeln an seinem heiligen Volk. Die Aufnahme dieser Theologumena in einen Weisheitstext wie Myst. legt beredtes Zeugnis über die integrative Kraft der am Tempel beheimateten weisheitlichen Kreise in der ersten Hälfte des 2. Jh. v.Chr. ab.
Muhammad Al-'Abbāsī Al-Mahdi (D. 1897), Grand Mufti of Egypt, and His Al-Fatāwā Al-Mahdiyya
Authors: Peters Rudolph
Published: April 2008

An analysis of fatwas issued by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Muhammad al'Abbāsī al-Mahdī (d. 1897), and of related legal texts, indicates that during the second half of the nineteenth century, the Grand Mufti played an increasingly important role in ensuring the correct and uniform application of Hanafi law, thereby preventing him from serving as an agent of legal change.
Definition and Interpretation of Muslim Law in South Asia: the Case of Gifts To Minors
Authors: Carroll Lucy
Published: April 2008

Because the personal law applicable to Muslims in South Asia is almost totally uncodified, it is almost totally to be found in the decisions of the Courts which discover and apply it. Development of law on a case-law basis provides scope for both error and evolution. This paper focuses on the question of gifts to minors by looking at a pivotal Privy Council decision of 1928; the restrictive interpretation placed on that decision by the Courts of British India; and the manner in which the decision of the Privy Council has been distinguished, ignored, or superseded by the Courts of post-Partition India and Pakistan in decisions resurrecting pre-1928 case-law and invoking the authorities which underlay, and the textbook comments which reflected, the earlier position.
Indo-European Tripartition and the Ara Pacis Augustae: an Excursus in Ideological Archaeology
Authors: Freibergs Gunar , Littleton C. Scott , Strutynski Udo
Published: April 2008

The Ara Pacis Augustae or Altar of Augustan Peace, erected by the Emperor outside Rome in 9 B.C., expresses perhaps more clearly than any other monument the ideology of the Augustan Age: the peaceful union of Rome with her Empire. At the same time, in the iconography of the east and west fronts, and especially in the images on the altar table, pedestal and plinth, it contains several expressions whose structures appear consonant with the tripartite Indo-European ideology that was derived from the earliest phases of religion at Rome and elsewhere in the ancient Indo-European speaking domain by Georges Dumézil. Finally, this monument also appears to constitute a crystallized cognitive map-a visible set of reference points-in terms of which the Romans of the period could orient themselves to their contemporary circumstances, future expectations, and a past studded with subconscious echoes of their Indo-European heritage.
Explaining Religious Ideas: Elements of a Cognitive Approach
Authors: Boyer Pascal
Published: April 2008

This paper outlines an anthropological approach to religious representations that is grounded in recent findings and hypotheses in cognitive psychology. The argument proceeds in four points. First, the main goal of this framework is to account for the recurrence of certain types of mental representations in religious systems. Recurrent features are not necessarily universal. They are the outcome of cognitive systems that make certain representations easier to acquire than others. Second, a cognitive approach must take into account the diversity of religious representations. It is argued here that religious systems bring together ontological assumptions, causal claims, episode types and social categories. These four "repertoires" may have different functional properties, and may therefore be acquired and represented in different ways. Third, universal features of tacit, intuitive systems may impose strong constraints on the variability of religious ideas. This is illustrated on the basis of ethnographic data. Finally, the type of representations one finds in religious belief-systems consists in conjectures, the cognitive salience of which is variable and should be evaluated in precise terms.
Silent Prayer in Antiquity
Authors: Van Der Horst Pieter W.
Published: April 2008

In antiquity prayers were said out loud and silent prayer was regarded as an anomalous practice that was looked upon with great suspicion. It was brought into connection with a variety of base motives which it was feared would be strongly objected to by others, foremost among which are wishes to practice magic, to have illicit sex, or to conceal crimes or criminal plans. It was also feared that one's prayer might be counteracted or undone by more powerful prayers of the opponents. It is only in circles of later (esp. Neo-)Platonism, in the framework of the increasing transcendentalisation in its concept of deity and the corresponding downgrading of anything material or corporeal, that complete silence as the purest form of worship was gradually accepted. This new trend had its influence on the Jewish philosopher Philo and especially on Churchfathers from Clement of Alexandria onwards (and also on some Hermetic and Gnostic circles). But in Jewish and Christian documents there was also another motive that facilitated a gradual acceptance of silent prayer as a respectable form of worship, namely, the biblical story (in 1 Samuel 1) about Hanna's inaudible prayer that was heard by God. It is the combination of these Platonic and biblical influences that brings about a change of attitude towards speechless prayer in both Judaism and Christianity, but the evidence clearly demonstrates that this was a very slow process, because the old suspicions surrounding this phenomenon did not easily disappear.
The Motivational Bases of Attitudes Toward Animals
Authors: Hills Adelma M.
Published: April 2008

The need for a theoretical grounding of the human-animal relationship is addressed from the perspective of the motivational bases of attitudes toward animals. Building on recent developments in attitude theory, and integrating themes from the historical and cultural background to Western attitudes, a model is developed that proposes three fundamental motivational bases, where responses to animals depend on instrumental self interest, empathylidentification, or people's beliefs and values about the nature and status of animals. Initial empirical studies using the model revealed reduced instrumentality, heightened empathy, and strong commitment to a value perspective endorsing equal status for humans and animals among animal rights supporters. Farmers exhibited an opposite pattern, and supported the dominant status of humans. The urban public evidenced moderate levels of instrumentality and empathy, and a neutral value position with some individuals exhibiting considerable ambivalence (agreeing with both equality and dominance). Gender differences on instrumentality (favoring males) and empathy (favoring females), were less evident for values, and were confined to female and male farmers. Directions for future research are discussecl, as is the practical value of this approach.
Personality Differences between Pro- and Antivivisectionists
Authors: Miele Joseph , Tingley Leanne , Kimball Robert , Broida John
Published: April 2008

We examined the possibility that opinions on the animal rights debate reflect differences in personality. Our survey of 1055 college students compared scores on the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory and other personality measures with scores on the Animal Research Survey. We found people supportive of animal experimentation more likely to be male, masculine, conservative and less empathic than those opposed to it. Animal rights advocates were more likely to support vegetarianism and to be more ecologically concerned. They also indicated less faith in science. Students likely to encounter animal experimentation in their studies (psychology, biology majors) tended to oppose animal experimentation more than others. Intuitive and feeling types were more opposed to animal experimentation than were sensate and thinking types. Extraverted-sensate and extraverted-thinking types were more likely to favor animal experimentation than were extraverted-intuitive and extraverted-feeling types. Implications of these results are discussed.
Labels and the Treatment of Animals: Archival and Experimental Cases
Authors: Rasmussen Jeffrey Lee , Craft Heather D. , Rajecki D.W.
Published: April 2008

The proposition that sheer labels or categories are important in people's reactions to the treatment of animals was supported by evidence from two sources. First, print archives showed that in the real world animals with a great deal in common such as (a) dolphins and tuna in the same nets; (b) cats and dogs, and pigs and goats in the same laboratories; and (c) native and feral species in the same parks are viewed or treated quite differently by humans. Second, original experiments were conducted wherein some hypothetical maltreatment of animals was held constant, but the animal label was varied over different respondents. Depending on the fictional maltreatment (hooking, shooting) and label (dog, cat, bird, fish, pig, goat) men and women respondents showed strong and systematic patterns of more or less tolerance for such treatment.
The "Disgusting" Spider: The Role of Disease and Illness in the Perpetuation of Fear of Spiders
Authors: Davey Graham C. L.
Published: April 2008

Recent studies of spider phobia have indicated thatfearof spiders is closely associated with the disease-avoidance response of disgust. It is argued that the disgust-relevant status of the spider resulted from its association with disease and illness in European cultures from the tenth century onward. The development of the association between spiders and illness appears to be linked to the many devastating and inexplicable epidemics that struck Europe from the Middle Ages onwards, when the spider was a suitable displaced target for the anxieties caused by these epidemics. Such factors suggest that the pervasive fear of spiders that is commonly found in many Western societies may have cultural rather than biological origins, and may be restricted to Europeans and their descendants.
The Law is an Ass: Reading E.P. Evans' The Medieval Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals
Authors: Beirne Piers
Published: April 2008

In this essay I address a little-known chapter in the lengthy history of crimes against (nonhuman) animals. My focus is not crimes committed by humans against animals, as such, but a practical outcome of the seemingly bizarre belief that animals are capable of committing crimes against humans.2 I refer here to the medieval practice whereby animals were prosecuted and punished for their misdeeds, aspects of which readers are likely to have encountered in the work of the historian Robert Darnton (1985).
Animals in Experimental Reports: The Rhetoric of Science
Authors: Birke Lynda , Smith Jane
Published: April 2008

In this paper, we analyze the ways in which the use of animals is described in the "Methods" sections of scientific papers. We focus particularly on aspects of the language of scientific narrative and what it conveys to the reader about the animals. Scientific writing, for example, tends to omit details of how the animals are cared for. Perhaps more importantly, it is constructed in ways that tend to minimize what is happening to the animal; thus, animal death is obscured by euphemisms, omission, or circumlocutions. What is done to animals is, moreover, often subordinate in the text to the details of experimental procedures and apparatus. We consider how such writing supports a particular kind of image of the "animal" in science, and also creates an impression that what happens to animals is somehow devoid of human agency. This impression, we argue, contributes to the way science is perceived by a wider public.
Metaphoric Relationships with Pets
Authors: Belk Russell W.
Published: April 2008

Using depth interviews and participant observation, the predominant metaphors that emerge in pet owners' relationships with theiranimals are pets as pleasures, problems, parts of self, members of the family, and toys. These metaphors as well as patterns of interacting with and accounting for pets, suggest vacillation between viewing companion animals as human and civilized and viewing them as animalistic and chaotic. It is argued that these views comprise a mixed metaphor needed to more fully understand our fascination with pets.
Pigs, Politics and Social Change in Vanuatu
Authors: Miles William F. S.
Published: April 2008

Pigs have long held great symbolic import for the people of Vanuatu, a sprawling archipelago 1,000 miles northeast of Australia. In most of the indigenous, small-scale communities which comprised traditional Vanuatu society, pig ownership and pig killing conveyed status, wealth, and informal power. Such rituals were the sole measure of social standing and political rank. In this study, I show how the cultural valuation of an animal, in this case the pig, can evolve as a society undergoes socio-economic development, and also how it can be used to foster nationalistic, partisan. and other political ends. I show how competing nationalist leaders used pig symbolism in their struggle to create a unified national identit_v,for-varying island groups, and how even today, local leaders derive their legitimacy through the manipulation of traditional animal rites.
Physical Cruelty Toward Animals in Massachusetts, 1975-1996
Authors: Luke Carter , Arluke Arnold
Published: April 2008

This article describes the nature of animal abuse and the response of the criminal justice system to all cruelty cases prosecuted by the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals between 1975 and 1996. Dogs were the most common target; when combined with cats, these domestic animals composed the vast majority of incidents. Almost all of these animals were owned, and females were the majority of complainants. Suspects were almost always young males, and most of the time they allegedly shot, beat, stabbed, or threw their victims. Reportedly, adults were more likely than minors to abuse dogs, shoot them, and commit such acts alone rather than in a group, while minors were more likely to abuse cats, beat them, and commit such acts with peers present. Less than half of the alleged abusers were found guilty in court, one-third were fined, less than one-quarter had to pay restitution, one-fifth were put on probation, one-tenth were sent to jail, and an even smaller percent were required to undergo counseling or perform community service.
Dogs: God's Worst Enemies?
Authors: Menache Sophia
Published: April 2008

In a broad survey of negative and hostile attitudes toward canines in pagan, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, the author posits that warm ties between humans and canines have been seen as a threat to the authority of the clergy and indeed, of God. Exploring ancient myth, Biblical and Rabbinical literature, and early and medieval Christianity and Islam, she explores images and prohibitions concerning dogs in the texts of institutionalized, monotheistic religions, and offers possible explanations for these attitudes, including concern over disease.
Beyond Mead: Symbolic Interaction between Humans and Felines
Authors: Alger Janet M. , Alger Steven F.
Published: April 2008

Recent research on the cognitive abilities and emotional capacities of animals has fueled the animal rights movement and renewed debate over the differences between human and non-human animals. This debate has not been central to sociology, although George Herbert Mead drew a very hard line between humans and animals by asserting that the latter were not capable of symbolic interaction. Sociologists are now beginning to question this assumption, and this article falls within this new line of research. We begin by presenting alternative interpretations of symbolic interaction that allow for the possibility of such activity in non-human animals. We review recent research on symbolic interaction between humans and dogs, and we present our own research findings on human-feline interaction. We conclude that there is growing evidence that symbolic interaction is widely distributed throughout the animal kingdom, and that it enables animals to survive more effectively in a wide variety of environments.
Das Datum Der Shih-Ching-Finsternis
Authors: Hartner Willy
Published: April 2008

Die Sonnenfinsternis von - 775 IX 6 (jul. Stil), die in China seit dem Ende der Hanzeit, in Europa seit rund 200 Jahren (Gaubil) als "Shih-ching-Finsternis" betrachtet wird, kann nicht mit dieser identisch sein, da sie im Gebiet des alten China (Unterlauf des Gelben Flusses) nicht sichtbar gewesen ist. Die Sonnenfinsternis von - 734 XI 30 ist in der Zeit zwischen dem Beginn der Choudynastie (1122 v. Chr.) und dem Ende der Ch'un-ch'iu-Periode (470 v. Chr.) die einzige, die mit den Angaben der Shih-ching-Ode + (Chinese Classics IV, 320) übereinstimmt. Es ergibt sich, dass die Monatsangabe nach Hsiastil (, Jahresbeginn im III. astronomischen Monat) gerechnet ist; der Neumond des 30. November - 734 sollte zwar theoretisch den 11., nicht den 10. bürgerlichen Monat im Hsiakalender einleiten, doch lässt sich diese Diskrepanz mit der Angabe des Textes ungezwungen beseitigen, wenn man annimmt, dass das Herbstäquinoktium des Jahres - 734 infolge ungenauer Beobachtung (innerhalb der durch die Gnomon-Methode bedingten Fehlergrenze) um 1-2 Tage zu spät angesetzt und demzufolge der Schaltmonat verfrüht eingeschoben worden ist. Der Vergleich mit den Finsternisberichten aus späterer Zeit zeigt, dass fehlerhafte Monatsschaltungen dieser Art nicht selten vorkamen. Die Anspielungen auf politische Verhältnisse im Texte der Ode sowie der drei folgenden, stehen nicht im Widerspruch mit den Angaben des über die Regierungszeit von P'ing-wang; insbesondere enthält die 7. Strophe der Ode einen deutlichen Hinweis auf die offenbar schon längere Zeit geplante und i. J. 722 v. Chr. endgültig erfolgte Verlegung der Hauptstadt von Hsi-an Fu nach Lo-yang. Als weitere Bestätigung darf angesehen werden, dass unmittelbar vor der Sonnenfinsternis von - 734 XI 30 eine Häufung von totalen, in China sichtbaren Mondfinsternissen eintrat, auf die die Textworte offensichtlich Bezug nehmen. - Die Annahme von Schreibfehlern in der Monatsnummer oder in einer der beiden Komponenten der Tagesnummer im 60er-Zyklus führt zu keinem brauchbaren Resultat. Aus alledem ergibt sich, dass die Sonnenfinsternis von - 734 XI 30, die in Hsi-an Fu eine Grösse von annähernd 11 Zoll (11/12 des Sonnendurchmessers) erreicht hat, die einzige ist, die Anspruch darauf erheben kann, mit der Shih-ching-Finsternis identisch zu sein.
Semantics and Metaphysics in Gilbert of Poitiers
Authors: De Rijk L.M.
Published: April 2008

Each inhabitant of our world Gilbert calls (following Boethius) an id quod est or subsistens. Its main constituents are the subsistentiae (or the subsistent's id quo which is sometimes taken collectively to stand for ea quibus) and these are accompanied by the 'accidents', quantity and quality. The subsistent owes its status (or transitory condition) to a collection of inferior members of the Aristotelian class of accidents, which to Gilbert's mind are rather 'accessories' or 'attachments from without' (extrinsecus affixa). The term 'substantia' is used both to stand for substance and substantial form (subsistentia), i.e., that by which something is subsistent (or 'is a substance'). The collection of subsistentiae (substantial forms) or the forma totius is called natura. However, 'natura' is also used to stand for either just one subsistentia or all the forms found in a subsistens even including its 'accidental' forms (quantity and quality). The inclusion of all kinds of accidents (including those inferior ones that make up a thing's status) is seldom found in the intension of the word 'natura'. One of the key notions featuring in Gilbert's ontology is esse aliquid. 'To be a-something' has a threefold import. First, it means 'to be only some thing', and to miss perfection. Second, it has the positive sense of 'being a something', i.e. 'being determinate and well-delineated', not indefinite, not formless that is. Third, 'to be a something' implies concreteness, corporealness and singularity.
Taking Notice1
Authors: Rose Deborah Bird
Published: April 2008

Resting on the belief that knowledge unfolds through dialogue this paper takes a dialogical approach to the exploration of worldviews. Understanding a worldview as a process of becoming rather than being, the paper engages with the thought of the Aboriginal teacher Jessie Wirrpa in relation to the work of the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. In particular, the paper explores ideas of knowledge, caring and 'attentive intersubjectivity'.
Neue Felseneidechsen (Reptilia: Lacertidae) aus dem Kaukasus und aus der Türkei
Authors: Darevsky Ilia S. , Eiselt Josef
Published: April 2008

Zusammenfassung. Präsentation von Lacerta rudis svanetica ssp. nov. vom Südabfall der zentralen Kaukasus-Hauptkette in Nordwest-Grusinien einschließlich einer isolierten Population in Nordwest-Abchasien und von Lacerta parvula adjarica ssp. nov. von der türkischen Schwarzmeerküste samt ihrem Hinterland zwischen Trabzon und Batumi sowie im (Çoruh- (Tschoroch-)tal ab Borçka, in Adjarien und in den angrenzenden Gebieten Grusiniens zwischen Meria (SE Poti) und Borzomi; bei Bakuriani existiert ein isoliertes Vorkommen.
The Postcranial Skeleton of Lanthanotus borneensis (Reptilia, Lacertilia)
Authors: Rieppel Olivier
Published: April 2008

The postcranial skeleton of Lanthanotus borneensis is described and compared to that of Heloderma and Varanus. In an evolutionary sense, Lathanotus is intermediate in structure between Heloderma showing relatively primitive and Varanus showing relatively advanced character states. This conclusion is well supported by the structure of the tarsus. Cladistically, Lanthanotus is the sister-taxon of Varanus, the two lineages together forming the sister-taxon of Heloderma, a conclusion based on the distribution of shared derived characters.
Eine neue Art der Gattung Tarentola (Reptilia : Sauria : Gekkonidae) aus Westafrika
Authors: Joger Ulrich
Published: April 2008

Tarentola parvicarinata n. sp. appears to be closely related to T. annularis (GEOFFROY), but differs from the latter species in (1) a paler colour lacking the four white scapular spots typical for T. annularis (Figs. 1,2) ; (2) delicately keeled dorsal scales and tubercles (Figs. 3, 4); (3) in general only 12 rows of dorsal tubercles; (4) a lower count of lamellae and scales under the tows, especially the fifth tow (Fig. 6); (5) smaller size (snout-vent below 10 cm). T. parvicarinata is distributed in rocky areas of southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal, western Mali, northern Guinea, and on Mt. Loma in Sierra Leone. In the Mauritanian Adrar mountains, sympatry with T. annularis occurs (Fig. 7). In Senegal, there is evidence for an anthropogenic extension of range, presently taking place along the railway line Kayes-Dakar.
Adenomera griseigularis, eine neue Leptodactyliden-Art aus Peru (Amphibia: Salientia: Leptodactylidae)
Authors: Henle Klaus
Published: April 2008

A new species of leptodactylid frog, Adenomera griseigularis, is described from Tingo Maria, Peru.
Age Determination of Male Bufo bufo (Amphibia, Anura) from the Netherlands, based on Year Rings in Phalanges
Authors: Hemelaar Agnes S. M.
Published: April 2008

Based on both the pattern of year rings in a particular phalanx of adult male specimens of the common toad Bufo bufo and the thickness of this bone in first-year toads, the rate of resorption of year rings in each toad could be assessed. It appeared that this rate of resorption is small. Therefore the age of male specimens of Bufo bufo from the Netherlands can be determined for about 92% by counting the number of year rings in hematoxylin-stained cross-sections of this particular phalanx. This percentage can be raised to 93-98% by considering the year rings resorbed. The age of the remaining toads may be underestimated by not more than one year.
Heterochromatin Distribution in the Chromosome Complement of Triturus boscai (Amphibia: Caudata: Salamandridae)
Authors: Herrero Pilar
Published: April 2008

The C-banding pattern of the I berian endemism Triturus boscai has been analyzed using mitotic chromosomes from gastric tissue and testes. The chromosome pairs are characterized for presenting a small black spot on their centromeres although a pair of pericentric bands are placed on both sides of the centromere region. Some chromosomes are characterized by the presence of terminal and subterminal bands. Present results are compared with those referred to related species within the group Triturus.
Régime alimentaire de Lacerta vivipara et Rana temporaria dans deux populations sympatriques du Puy-de-Dôme
Authors: Pilorge Thierry
Published: April 2008

The diets of Lacerta vivipara and Rana temporaria were determined from the analysis of the stomach contents of individuals caught at the same time in the same place (Puy-de-Dôme, France). The diet of the common frog is more diversified, according to taxonomy as well as to the size of prey items. Besides, average length of prey captured by the frog (7.9 mm) is greater than that of the lizard (4.6 mm). Nevertheless the diet overlap index is much greater according to the later criterium than to taxonomic classification. Contrary to what has been shown in several cases where prey size is the main factor, trophic behaviour, hunting stratum and daily activity cycle- between others - play a great part in the separation of the trophic niches of the two studied populations. Finally, to evaluate the intensity of competition between the two species requires the determination of the availability of trophic resources as compared with the needs of predators.
Observation and Conservation of a Relict Population of the Natterjack Toad Bufo calamita (LAURENTI) in Southern England over the Period 1972-1981
Authors: Beebee Trevor , Bolwell Stephen , Buckley John , Corbett Keith , Griffin John , Preston Michael , Webster Jonathan
Published: April 2008

A relict population of natterjack toads (Bufo calamita) on heathland in southern England has been studied over a ten year period. During this time the numbers of adults have not fluctuated significantly although there has been recruitment only in the latter five years. pH, inorganic ions and organic components of the freshwaters have been studied together with thermal properties, tadpole growth rates and abundance of potential predators. Conservation measures and their success so far are also described.
Effect of Prey Density on Reproduction, Foraging and Other Activities in the Adder, Vipera berus
Authors: Andrén Claes
Published: April 2008

Reproduction, foraging and other activities of an island population of adder, Vipera berus, were documented in 1974 after a high density of rodents in 1973. The study was repeated in 1975 after one year of diminished food resources. In spring 1974 the weight status (body mass/length) of all categories of island adders was significantly higher than in adjacent mainland populations. After one year of food scarcity mean body mass had decreased significantly in all categories of adders. At the same time mean body length in males, (but not in females) increased significantly. Survival after one year of low food resources was markedly higher in non-reproductive females than in reproductive ones, pointing to a high cost of reproduction at low food density. In 1975, spring sloughing in males was delayed and prolonged, and reproduction failed completely. The foraging period was prolonged and included spring. Most adders then left their normal spring habitats close to the hibernation area and moved to foraging habitats. Predator evasion distance was much shorter than in well-nourished adders.
Electrophoresis of Proteins in small Blood-Samples from live Frogs, in 1 mm thick Polyacrylamide Gels
Authors: Wijnands Harrie E. J.
Published: April 2008

A method is described that can help preventing the mass killing of frogs when only minute samples oftissue-specificallyblood-are needed, such as for electrophoresis ofproteins in aid ofpopulation genetic studies. About 10 microliter of serum were rather easily collected from the feet, while the animals (belonging to several forms of Rana esculenta complex) stayed relatively unharmed. By means ofvertical electrophoresis in I mm thick polyacrylamide gels several protein patterns were demonstrated in samples as small as I microliter of serum (plus 1 microliter sucrose solution). Patterns of albumin, LDH and esterase could easily be analysed and were compared with literature data. Some more experimenting might result in the production ofgood zymograms ofa-GDH and PHI too. AAT, PGM and CK appeared to be absent in serum but could easily be demonstrated in samples from skeletal muscle.