bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Caregiving, dyadic quality of life and dyadic relationships in lupus
Authors: Jolly M , Thakkar A , Mikolaitis R A , Block J A
Published: February 2015

Aims

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) mostly affects young women, adversely affecting their quality of life (QOL). Caregivers may experience caregiver burden (CGB), and it may lower the quality of their relationship. Herein we studied caregiving and CGB and their effects on QOL and relationships in SLE.

Methods

We recruited 10 dyads from the Lupus Clinic. Data collected included demographics, CGB (CGB Scale, screen for CGB), QOL (SF-36) and the quality of the dyadic relationship (Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS)). We calculated correlation coefficients for associations between (i) CGB and (ii) dyadic QOL or DAS.

Results

The mean (± SD) age of SLE patients was 35.2 (± 9) years and of caregivers was 37.3 (± 9.64) years. The mean (± SD, min–max) total CGB score was 9.1 (± 5.8, 0–19). The caregiver's QOL correlated strongly with some of the domains of the patient's QOL. The SLE-related CGB was associated with the caregiver's own QOL and their SLE partner's QOL. The dyadic DAS was linked to the patient's QOL.

Conclusions

Because (i) CGB in SLE is associated with the caregiver's own QOL and with their SLE partner's QOL, and because (ii) the dyadic DAS score is linked primarily to the patient's QOL, then to optimize patient health outcomes and to decrease CGB, focus should be not only on the patient but should include the dyadic unit. Significant findings: To optimize patient outcomes of SLE patients, focus should be on the dyadic unit. CGB in SLE is associated with the caregiver's own QOL and with the SLE partner's QOL, making it crucial to study this relationship in more detail.
Mania occurring during systemic lupus erythematosus relapse and its amelioration on clinical and neuroimaging follow-up
Authors: Hirachi T , Ishii H , Tada Y , Noguchi T , Haraguchi Y , Tateishi H , Mizoguchi Y , Kato T A , Kawashima T , Monji A
Published: February 2015

Psychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that are commonly preceded by organic syndromes include confusional states, anxiety disorder, cognitive dysfunction, mood disorder and psychosis. A 35-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with a relapse of SLE. Laboratory data were exacerbated, with some physical symptoms, and her primary psychiatric symptom was mania. The symptoms were reduced by treatment with prednisolone, methylprednisolone and aripiprazole. Magnetic resonance imaging and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using 123I-IMP was then performed and analyzed with three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection. This case emphasizes that SLE can commence with organic syndromes and relapse with predominantly psychiatric symptoms, and that the treatment efficacy may be confirmed using a follow-up of SPECT.
Successful treatment of cerebral large vessel vasculitis in systemic lupus erythematosus with intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide
Authors: Kato R , Sumitomo S , Kawahata K , Fujio K , Yamamoto K
Published: February 2015

A 39-year-old woman with a six-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was admitted because of a prolonged high fever, discoid rash, and multiple lymphadenopathies. She also developed pericarditis, and was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy followed by prednisolone 50 mg daily and cyclosporine 100 mg daily. Meanwhile, she had a progressive headache, and a brain MRI revealed right pons infarction, although she did not have any abnormal neurological findings. An MRA revealed obvious irregular narrowing in the basilar, right vertebral and right posterior cerebral artery. There was no evidence of antiphospholipid syndrome. We concluded that the cause of the asymptomatic brain infarction was cerebral large vessel vasculitis associated with neuropsychiatric SLE. Intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy was started, and two months later, we confirmed that the irregular arterial narrowing had markedly ameliorated.

Cerebral large vessel vasculitis in neuropsychiatric SLE is very rare, and a marked amelioration has not been reported to date. Here, we present a rare case of cerebral large vessel vasculitis treated successfully with a clear visual presentation.
Unusual co-existence of dural sinus thrombosis and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in a patient with lupus
Authors: Misra D P , Chowdhury A C , Parida J R , Jain S K , Agarwal V
Published: February 2015

Subarachnoid hemorrhage and dural sinus thrombosis are important manifestations of neuropsychiatric lupus erythematosus. We report the case of a woman with relapsed lupus nephritis, in partial remission, who presented with the unusual combination of dural sinus thrombosis (due to protein S functional deficiency) and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. She had a fatal outcome, as has often been reported with subarachnoid hemorrhage in the context of active lupus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such an unusual association in lupus, and highlights unique challenges in the management of intracranial hemorrhage in the context of dural sinus thrombosis.
From ‘fearing’ to ‘empowering’ climate refugees: Governing climate-induced migration in the name of resilience
Authors: Methmann Chris , Oels Angela
Published: February 2015

The concept of resilience was born and grew up in the environmental sciences during the 1970s. After migrating into many other disciplines, resilience is now ‘coming home’ to the politics of the environment in the name of security. The field of climate change induced migration is investigated as a paradigmatic case of environmental security. On a theoretical level, resilience is studied as a governmentality; that is, as advanced liberal government which governs through contingency. On an empirical level, a brief genealogy of environmental migration is presented with a focus on the latest discursive shift towards resilience. It is demonstrated that climate change induced migration was once represented as a pathology to be prevented and, more recently, as an issue of refugee rights. However, the shift towards resilience has reframed the debate. Climate change-induced migration is now presented as a rational strategy of adaptation to unavoidable levels of climate change and the relocation of millions of people is rendered acceptable and rational. The most drastic policy implication of this shift is that the space of the political is eliminated. Climate change is presented as a matter of fact rather than as a social problem that could still be tackled by significant emission reductions and lifestyle changes by residents in the major developed economies.
Minimum wage debates in a developing country setting: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
Authors: Imbun Benedict
Published: February 2015

Contributing to the broader topic of minimum wage determination in developing countries, this article discusses the shaping and implementation of minimum wage policy in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It begins by outlining the institutional arrangements under which minimum wage rates are determined in PNG. It then critically examines the argument that wage levels in the country are unsustainably high – a claim that has perennially characterised Papua New Guinea (PNG) minimum wage fixing. The article argues that, on the contrary, wage levels are indeed low and not adequate to reasonably support a single worker, let alone a family in an urban setting. This counter-argument is discussed in the context of debates over minimum wage levels and their relationship to economic growth, employment creation, international competitiveness, and capacity to pay. Whilst focusing on the PNG wage fixing system, the article thus sheds light on the dilemmas and challenges facing wages policy generally in a developing country setting.
The Chronic Responsibility
Authors: Ravn Iben M. , Frederiksen Kirsten , Beedholm Kirsten
Published: February 2015

This article reports on the results of a Fairclough-inspired critical discourse analysis aiming to clarify how chronically ill patients are presented in contemporary Danish chronic care policies. Drawing on Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework for analyzing discourse, and using Dean’s concepts of governmentality as an interpretative lens, we analyzed and explained six policies published by the Danish Health and Medicines Authority between 2005 and 2013. The analysis revealed that discourses within the policy vision of chronic care consider chronically ill patients’ active role, lifestyle, and health behavior to be the main factors influencing susceptibility to chronic diseases. We argue that this discursive construction naturalizes a division between people who can actively manage responsible self-care and those who cannot. Such discourses may serve the interests of those patients who are already activated, while others remain subjugated to certain roles. For example, they may be labeled as “vulnerable.”
Cellulosic tent fabric coated with boron nitride nanosheets
Authors: Yaras Ali , Er Engin , Çelikkan Hüseyin , Disli Ali , Alicilar Ahmet
Published: February 2015

This study concerns with the preparation of flame retardant and hydrophobic cellulosic fabric by using hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (h-BNNs). h-BNNs were prepared from hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) using two different exfoliation methods. These methods include direct sonication (aq-BNNs) and sonication after pretreatment with Hummers method (Hum-BNNs) in aqueous medium. The characterization of h-BNNs was carried out by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), limited oxygen index (LOI), and water contact angle (WCA) analysis. The surface morphologies of h-BNNs were investigated via atomic force microscope (AFM). The coating with the h-BNNs was proved by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hummers method is considered to be more effective reaction by gained functionality to h-BN structure. In this way, it will easily provide physical or chemical interaction between the functionalized h-BN and cellulosic structure. A nanometric-sized large layers and slightly functionalized h-BNNs were obtained using Hummers method. Hum-BNNs dispersions were sprayed onto the surface of cellulosic tent fabric to show flame retardance properties. However, it was observed that the flame retardant effect of nanolayered h-BNNs prepared by both methods were insufficient. In addition, ultrahydrophobic surfaces were almost obtained using aq-BNNs and Hum-BNNs. It was conclusively proposed that a few amounts of Hum-BNNs can be used as hydrophobic coating for cellulosic fabric surface with this way.
Betaine (N,N,N-trimethylglycine) averts photochemically-induced thrombosis in pial microvesselsin vivoand platelet aggregationin vitro
Authors: Nemmar Abderrahim , Yuvaraju Priya , Beegam Sumaya , Ali Badreldin H
Published: February 2015

Betaine (N,N,N-trimethylglycine) is an important food component with established health benefits through its homocysteine-lowering effects, and is used to lower total homocysteine concentration in plasma of patients with homocystinuria. It is well established that hyperhomocysteinemia is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. However, the possible protective effect of betaine on coagulation events in vivo and in vitro has thus far not been studied. Betaine was given to mice at oral doses of either 10 mg/kg ( n = 6) or 40 mg/kg ( n = 6) for seven consecutive days, and control mice ( n = 6) received water only. The thrombotic occlusion time in photochemically induced thrombosis in pial arterioles was significantly delayed in mice pretreated with betaine at doses of 10 mg/kg ( P < 0.001) and 40 mg/kg ( P < 0.01). Similar effects were observed in pial venules with 10 mg/kg ( P < 0.05) and 40 mg/kg ( P < 0.05) betaine. In vitro, in whole blood samples collected from untreated mice ( n = 3–5), betaine (0.01–1 mg/mL) significantly reversed platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (5 µM). The number of circulating platelets and plasma concentration of fibrinogen in vivo were not significantly affected by betaine pretreament compared with the control group. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) in mice pretreated with betaine was significantly reduced compared with the control group. Moreover, betaine (0.01–1 mg/mL) caused a dose-dependent and significant prolongation of PT ( n = 5) and aPTT ( n = 4–6). In conclusion, our data show that betaine protected against coagulation events in vivo and in vitro and decreased LPO in plasma.
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission in South Africa: an ever-changing landscape
Authors: Burton Rosie , Giddy Janet , Stinson Kathryn
Published: February 2015

Almost 30% of pregnant women attending public health clinics in South Africa are HIV positive; which represents approximately 280,000 women each year. South Africa has the largest antiretroviral therapy programme in the world, with over 2.7 million people on treatment in 2013. Since its belated and controversial beginning, the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programme has achieved a substantial reduction in vertical transmission. South Africa is justifiably proud of this success. However, the history of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) and antiretroviral therapy programmes in South Africa has been fraught with delays and political intervention. South Africa could have started both PMTCT and antiretroviral therapy programmes in 2000. Instead, the AIDS denialist views of the government allowed the HIV epidemic to spiral out of control. Roll-out of a national PMTCT programme began in 2002, but only after the government was forced to do so by a Constitutional Court ruling. Now, a decade later, HIV treatment and prevention programmes have been completely transformed. This article will discuss the evolution of the HIV epidemic in South Africa, and give a historical overview of the struggle to establish a national PMTCT, and the impact of delaying PMTCT and treatment programmes on infant and maternal health.
Ibrutinib enhances the antitumor immune response induced by intratumoral injection of a TLR9 ligand in mouse lymphoma
Authors: Sagiv-Barfi Idit , Kohrt Holbrook E. , Burckhardt Laura , Czerwinski Debra K. , Levy Ronald
Published: February 2015

Key Points

The combination of intratumoral CpG with systemic ibrutinib results in complete and permanent regression of both local and distant tumors. The antitumor effect of the combination is T-cell dependent.
Crucial role for the VWF A1 domain in binding to type IV collagen
Authors: Flood Veronica H. , Schlauderaff Abraham C. , Haberichter Sandra L. , Slobodianuk Tricia L. , Jacobi Paula M. , Bellissimo Daniel B. , Christopherson Pamela A. , Friedman Kenneth D. , Gill Joan Cox , Hoffmann Raymond G. , Montgomery Robert R. ,   the Zimmerman Program Investigators
Published: February 2015

Key Points

Collagen 4 binds to the VWF A1 domain, and this binding is reduced or abrogated by select VWF A1 domain sequence variations. Platelet binding to collagen 4 under flow conditions is dependent on the presence of VWF.
The Use of Tissue Plasminogen Activator as Continuous Infusion into an Arteriovenous Hemodialysis Access in the Hemodialysis Unit: A Case Series
Authors: van der Merwe Elene , Luscombe Rick , Kiaii Mercedeh
Published: February 2015

Background:

Thrombolytics such as tissue plasminogen activator are often used by interventional radiologists in the radiology suite to salvage thrombosed hemodialysis arteriovenous fistulae. Thrombolytics are also commonly used in dialysis facilities as a dialysis catheter lock solution or as an infusion into a dialysis catheter when dysfunctional. However, the use of tissue plasminogen activator as a continuous infusion into an arteriovenous fistula in the dialysis facility to treat clot burden is not commonly done.

Objective:

The aim of our case series is to demonstrate the successful use of tissue plasminogen activator to decrease clot burden in an arteriovenous fistula in the dialysis unit.

Design:

Observational case series.

Setting:

An outpatient dialysis facility in a tertiary care hospital.

Patients:

Three non- consecutive patients were diagnosed with an acute thrombosed arteriovenous fistula either on physical exam or by imaging.

Measurements:

A thrombosed fistula as well as successful resolution of clot was illustrated by either physical exam, fistulogram or ultrasound. A functioning fistula demonstrated successful continuation of dialysis and adequate access flow measurements in follow up.

Method:

This is a case series that describes the technique of using an infusion of tissue plasminogen activator into an arteriovenous fistula on the dialysis unit by vascular access nurses to treat or diminish clot burden.

Results:

We have described three separate cases where treatments with tissue plasminogen activator infusions on the dialysis unit resulted in objective evidence of decrease in clot burden on ultrasound or fistulogram.

Limitations:

The small numbers of our case series requires that the results need to be verified in a larger study. Inclusion and exclusion criteria need to be defined before widespread application of this technique.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge this small case series is the first to describe the procedure whereby low dose tissue plasminogen activator is directly infused into the fistula by the vascular access nurse in the dialysis unit during dialysis and not in the interventional suite. This provides additional information to the existing literature that there is an alternative option for dialysis units to diminish clot burden until a more permanent solution is established through angioplasty.
Validating a Scoring Tool to Predict Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) following Cardiac Surgery
Authors: Wong Brian , St. Onge Jennifer , Korkola Stephen , Prasad Bhanu
Published: February 2015

Background:

Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is associated with an increased risk of mortality. Preoperative risk scores can identify patients at risk for AKI and facilitate preventive strategies. Currently, validated risk scores are used to predict AKI requiring dialysis (AKI-D); less is known about whether these tools predict less severe forms of AKI.

Objective:

To evaluate the Cleveland Clinic scoring tool in predicting both AKI-D and less severe stages of AKI in patients after cardiac surgery in a Canadian tertiary care center.

Design:

Retrospective case-control study.

Setting:

Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region (RQHR) from 2007 to 2011.

Patients:

Patients who underwent cardiac surgery and developed postoperative kidney injury (n = 2316).

Measurements:

Data on risk factors for AKI and outcomes of cardiac surgery were collected from a retrospective chart review.

Methods:

The primary outcome was AKI, defined as Stage 1 (increase in serum creatinine 1.5–1.9 × baseline within 5 days), Stage 2 (increase 2.0–2.9 × baseline), or Stage 3 (increase 3.0 × baseline or more OR initiation of dialysis during hospital stay). We assessed the performance of a modified version of the Cleveland Clinic tool using receiver operating curve analyses.

Results:

The incidence of AKI was 6.1% (Stage 1), 2.6% (Stage 2), and 5.8% (Stage 3). The area under the curve (AUC) for the Cleveland score was 0.61 (95% CI: 0.56 to 0.65; p < 0.001) for Stage 1, 0.61 (95% CI: 0.54 to 0.68; p < 0.01) for Stage 2, and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.74 to 0.82; p < 0.001) for Stage 3. Greater level of risk on the Cleveland tool was associated with a higher risk of Stage 3 AKI.

Limitations:

Lack of prospective validation.

Conclusions:

The modified Cleveland Clinic tool was valid in identifying patients with severe stages of AKI but did not have strong discrimination for early AKI stages.
Development of a new approach for targeted gene editing in primordial germ cells using TALENs inXenopus
Authors: Nakajima Keisuke , Yaoita Yoshio
Published: February 2015

A gene of interest can be efficiently modified using transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) (Christian et al., 2010;Li et al., 2011). However, if a target gene is essential for development, growth and fertility, use of TALENs with high mutagenic activity in F0 frogs could result in developmental disorders or sterility, which would reduce the number of F1 progeny and make F1 phenotypical analysis difficult. We used the 3′ untranslated region of DEADSouth gene (DS-3′) of Xenopus tropicalis to solve this problem, because the addition of the DS-3′ to mRNA is known to induce primordial germ cell (PGC)-specific expression and reduce the stability in somatic cells of mRNA in Xenopus laevis. At first, we inserted the X. tropicalis DS-3′ downstream of the EGFP termination codon and confirmed that the EGFP expression was specifically detected in PGCs for three weeks. Therefore, we inserted the DS-3′ downstream of the termination codon of the TALEN coding sequence. The tyrosinase gene was selected as the target gene for TALEN because the bi-allelic mutation of this gene is easily discernible by the albino phenotype. When fertilized eggs were microinjected with TALEN mRNAs fused to the DS-3′, their sperm and oocytes had a high rate (84–100%) of target-gene modification in contrast to the lower rate (0–45%) of nucleotide alteration observed in somatic cells.
Dynamin regulates metaphase furrow formation and plasma membrane compartmentalization in the syncytial Drosophila embryo
Authors: Rikhy Richa , Mavrakis Manos , Lippincott-Schwartz Jennifer
Published: February 2015

The successive nuclear division cycles in the syncytial Drosophila embryo are accompanied by ingression and regression of plasma membrane furrows, which surround individual nuclei at the embryo periphery, playing a central role in embryo compartmentalization prior to cellularization. Here, we demonstrate that cell cycle changes in dynamin localization and activity at the plasma membrane (PM) regulate metaphase furrow formation and PM organization in the syncytial embryo. Dynamin was localized on short PM furrows during interphase, mediating endocytosis of PM components. Dynamin redistributed off ingressed PM furrows in metaphase, correlating with stabilized PM components and the associated actin regulatory machinery on long furrows. Acute inhibition of dynamin in the temperature sensitive shibire mutant embryo resulted in morphogenetic consequences in the syncytial division cycle. These included inhibition of metaphase furrow ingression, randomization of proteins normally polarized to intercap PM and disruption of the diffusion barrier separating PM domains above nuclei. Based on these findings, we propose that cell cycle changes in dynamin orchestrate recruitment of actin regulatory machinery for PM furrow dynamics during the early mitotic cycles in the Drosophila embryo.
An ancestral role in peroxisome assembly is retained by the divisional peroxin Pex11 in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica
Authors: Chang Jinlan , Klute Mary J. , Tower Robert J. , Mast Fred D. , Dacks Joel B. , Rachubinski Richard A.
Published: February 2015

The peroxin Pex11 has a recognized role in peroxisome division. Pex11p remodels and elongates peroxisomal membranes prior to the recruitment of dynamin-related GTPases that act in membrane scission to divide peroxisomes. We performed a comprehensive comparative genomics survey to understand the significance of the evolution of the Pex11 protein family in yeast and other eukaryotes. Pex11p is highly conserved and ancestral, and has undergone numerous lineage-specific duplications, whereas other Pex11 protein family members are fungal-specific innovations. Functional characterization of the in-silico-predicted Pex11 protein family members of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, i.e. Pex11p, Pex11Cp and Pex11/25p, demonstrated that Pex11Cp and Pex11/25p have a role in the regulation of peroxisome size and number characteristic of Pex11 protein family members. Unexpectedly, deletion of PEX11 in Y. lipolytica produces cells that lack morphologically identifiable peroxisomes, mislocalize peroxisomal matrix proteins and preferentially degrade peroxisomal membrane proteins, i.e. they exhibit the classical pex mutant phenotype, which has not been observed previously in cells deleted for the PEX11 gene. Our results are consistent with an unprecedented role for Pex11p in de novo peroxisome assembly.
Local VE-cadherin mechanotransduction triggers long-ranged remodeling of endothelial monolayers
Authors: Barry Adrienne K. , Wang Ning , Leckband Deborah E.
Published: February 2015

In this study, we present results demonstrating that mechanotransduction by vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin, also known as CDH5) complexes in endothelial cells triggers local cytoskeletal remodeling, and also activates global signals that alter peripheral intercellular junctions and disrupt cell–cell contacts far from the site of force application. Prior studies have documented the impact of actomyosin contractile forces on adherens junction remodeling, but the role of VE-cadherin in force sensation and its ability to influence endothelial cell and tissue mechanics globally have not been demonstrated. Using mechanical manipulation of VE-cadherin bonds and confocal imaging, we demonstrate VE-cadherin-based mechanotransduction. We then demonstrate that it requires homophilic VE-cadherin ligation, an intact actomyosin cytoskeleton, Rho-associated protein kinase 1 (ROCK1) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase. VE-cadherin-mediated mechanotransduction triggered local actin and vinculin recruitment, as well as global signals that altered focal adhesions and disrupted peripheral intercellular junctions. Confocal imaging revealed that VE-cadherin-specific changes appear to propagate across cell junctions to disrupt distant inter-endothelial junctions. These results demonstrate the central role of VE-cadherin adhesions and the actomyosin cytoskeleton within an integrated, mechanosensitive network that both induces local cytoskeletal remodeling at the site of force application and regulates the global integrity of endothelial tissues.
The multivesicular body is the major internal site of prion conversion
Authors: Yim Yang-In , Park Bum-Chan , Yadavalli Rajgopal , Zhao Xiaohong , Eisenberg Evan , Greene Lois E.
Published: February 2015

The conversion of the properly folded prion protein, PrPc, to its misfolded amyloid form, PrPsc, occurs as the two proteins traffic along the endocytic pathway and PrPc is exposed to PrPsc. To determine the specific site of prion conversion, we knocked down various proteins in the endocytic pathway including Rab7a, Tsg101 and Hrs (also known as HGS). PrPsc was markedly reduced in two chronically infected cell lines by preventing the maturation of the multivesicular body, a process that begins in the early endosome and ends with the sorting of cargo to the lysosome. By contrast, knocking down proteins in the retromer complex, which diverts cargo away from the multivesicular body caused an increase in PrPsc levels. These results suggest that the multivesicular body is the major site for intracellular conversion of PrPc to PrPsc.
F -singularities via alterations
Authors: Blickle Manuel , Schwede Karl , Tucker Kevin
Published: February 2015

We give characterizations of test ideals and $F$-rational singularities via (regular) alterations. Formally, the descriptions are analogous to standard characterizations of multiplier ideals and rational singularities in characteristic zero via log resolutions. Lastly, we establish Nadel-type vanishing theorems (up to finite maps) for test ideals, and further demonstrate how these vanishing theorems may be used to extend sections.
Classification of holomorphic framed vertex operator algebras of central charge 24
Authors: Lam Ching Hung , Shimakura Hiroki
Published: February 2015

This article is a continuation of our work on the classification of holomorphic framed vertex operator algebras of central charge 24. We show that a holomorphic framed VOA of central charge 24 is uniquely determined by the Lie algebra structure of its weight one subspace. As a consequence, we completely classify all holomorphic framed vertex operator algebras of central charge 24 and show that there exist exactly 56 such vertex operator algebras, up to isomorphism.
Characterization of large energy solutions of the equivariant wave map problem: II
Authors: Côte R. , Kenig C. E. , Lawrie A. , Schlag W.
Published: February 2015

We consider $1$-equivariant wave maps from $\Bbb{R}^{1+2}\to\Bbb{S}^2$ of finite energy. We establish a classification of all degree one global solutions whose energies are less than three times the energy of the harmonic map~$Q$. In particular, for each global energy solution of topological degree one, we show that the solution asymptotically decouples into a rescaled harmonic map plus a radiation term. Together with a companion article (Part I), where we consider the case of finite-time blow up, this gives a characterization of all $1$-equivariant, degree~$1$ wave maps in the energy regime $[E(Q),3E(Q))$.
Unit distance problems
Authors: Oberlin Daniel , Oberlin Richard
Published: February 2015

We study some discrete and continuous variants of the following problem of
Erd\H os: given a finite subset $P$ of ${\Bbb R}^2$ or ${\Bbb R}^3$, what
is the maximum number of pairs $(p_1,p_2)$ with $p_1,p_2\in P$ and $|p_1
-p_2|=1$?
On the cohomology groups of local systems over Hilbert modular varieties
via Higgs bundles
Authors: Müller-Stach Stefan , Sheng Mao , Ye Xuanming , Zuo Kang
Published: February 2015

Let $X$ be a Hilbert modular variety and $\Bbb{V}$ a non-trivial local system over $X$ with infinite monodromy. In this paper we study Saito's mixed Hodge structure (MHS) on the cohomology group $H^k(X,\Bbb{V})$ using the method of Higgs bundles. Among other results we prove the Eichler-Shimura isomorphism, give a dimension formula for the Hodge numbers and show that the mixed Hodge structure is split over $\Bbb{R}$. These results are analogous to the work of Y. Matsushima and G. Shimura in the cocompact case and complement the results of E. Frietag for constant coefficients.
Race, Guilt and Innocence : Facing Blackfacing in Contemporary German Theater
Authors: Sieg Katrin
Published: February 2015

In the spring of 2012, the use of blackface/blackfacing in German theater, long an unremarked-upon practice, became the object of public protest, and prompted heated debates about the politics of race and representation. Through a discussion of the Deutsches Theater’s production of Unschuld (Innocence ) by Dea Loher, which stirred up the controversy, the essay shows that blackfacing is part of larger patterns of racial representation. These have recently come under increasing scrutiny in Germany. The controversy about blackfacing is a symptom of larger tectonic shifts in narratives of German identity as postnational, postracial, and cosmopolitan.
Rejuvenation and Regen(d)eration: Der Steinachfilm , Sex Glands, and Weimar-Era Visual and Literary Culture
Authors: Makela Maria
Published: February 2015

The 1920s saw the publication of considerable scientific research on hormones and their impact on gender and aging. Interest in Germany was especially intense, in part due to the blockbuster feature-length movie, Der Steinachfilm , that premiered in Berlin in January 1923 at the Ufa Palast am Zoo and then toured the country for months afterwards. Introducing its viewing public to the work of pioneering endocrinologist Eugen Steinach, the sensational film helped to spawn a widespread fascination with the sex glands that is reflected in the visual and literary culture of the era.
August von Kotzebue’s Bruder Moritz, der Sonderling and German Transcultural Consciousness around 1800
Authors: Zhang Chunjie
Published: February 2015

August von Kotzebue’s drama Bruder Moritz (1791) demonstrates the impact of non-European cultures on the German discourse and expresses a transcultural consciousness in German culture around 1800. Discussing Moritz’s friendship with the Arab Omar and Moritz’s provocative attitude toward female virtue and the incest taboo, this essay shows how Omar co-constructs Moritz’s identity and empowers him to imagine a different moral and social order. Moreover this essay foregrounds the happy ending of Moritz’s refuge in the remote Pacific Islands and argues that non-European cultures evoke the generic instability of bourgeois tragedy and pave ways for melodramas with happy endings.
“Staging Berlin: Emine Sevgi Özdamar’s Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde ”
Authors: Gezen Ela
Published: February 2015

This article examines the representation of Cold War Berlin in Emine Sevgi Özdamar’s novel Seltsame Sterne starren zur Erde (2003), paying particular attention to the unique role played by sound within this text. Specifically, it is argued that the Brecht and Eisler songs which are a constant companion to the novel’s narrator serve as a means of linking different city spaces to one another: East to West Berlin, and both parts of Berlin to Istanbul. In Özdamar’s text, this essay demonstrates, Berlin’s topography is spatially and aurally constituted and inclusive of the narrator’s plural geographical, political, and cultural attachments.
Escape Artistry: Elisabeth Bergner and Jewish Disappearance in Der träumende Mund (Czinner, 1932)
Authors: Wallach Kerry
Published: February 2015

The late Weimar film Der träumende Mund culminates in the apparent but unconfirmed suicide of its female protagonist, played by Elisabeth Bergner. Bergner, whose background contributed to the film’s Jewish reception, and who later claimed to have written the film’s screenplay, left Germany and went into exile with director Paul Czinner in 1932. This film and the circumstances of its production and premiere link tragic modes of self-erasure, including the suicides of both many women and many German Jews, to notions of escape, emigration, and reemergence. Its success among Jewish spectators points to its enduring and international appeal.
Fiction, Drama, and the Space Between: Race and Performance in James’s The Other House
Authors: Maurice Alice
Published: February 2015

This essay considers The Other House in relation to James’s theorizations of the “scenic art.” The emphasis on space in these texts highlights an attempt to “map” social and ethnic categories onto narrative and dramatic form. The Other House is a novel about a particular space: the territory between two country estates. This essay argues that the novel maps that territory in order to allegorize a racialized theory of Anglo-Saxon performance.
Hashtags, Algorithmic Compression, and Henry James’s Late Style
Authors: Ross Shawna
Published: February 2015

This essay draws parallels between the intellectual labor of the Jamesian narrator and that of social media user, both of whom use similar techniques to arrange and interpret data streams (consciousness, expression, dialogue, action, text). I argue that James’s social politics of conversation is not only suited to making digital interlocutors critically aware of the digital messages surrounding them but also to alerting literature scholars to the narrative possibilities of social media. By reading Jamesian style as a formal analogue of digital utterances, we can help students understand their communicative practices—and help us understand them as well.
Henry James and American Public Libraries, 1875–1916
Authors: Johanningsmeier Charles
Published: February 2015

This article details how American librarians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had widely varying attitudes toward Henry James’s fictions. It also shows how those librarians’ actions shaped the ways countless library patrons interacted with these works. Drawing on the expressed opinions of librarians, extensive research into the actual holdings of almost 200 American public libraries, and the borrowing records of the Muncie, Indiana Public Library, it concludes that James’s works--both from his Realist and Modernist phases--enjoyed much wider circulation and a more heterogeneous readership than previously believed.
Knowing Maisie
Authors: Holmgren Lindsay
Published: February 2015

“Knowing Maisie” describes how “we fellow witnesses,” as James deems us in the preface, witness the telepathic communication between Maisie and her guardians. Holmgren demonstrates that Maisie controls discourse by way of clairvoyant visions and telepathic insights rendered as proleptic events of plot; by describing her visions, the narrator inscribes the text with a narrative Maisie authors. As she ascends into artistry, Maisie replaces the narrator with Mrs. Wix, but she allows the narrator to narrate his own exit through his final, borrowed vision of Mrs. Wix’s mind.
A Small Discovery: Avicenna’s Theory of Minima Naturalia
Authors: McGinnis Jon
Published: February 2015

There has been a long-held misconception among historians of philosophy and science that apart from brief comments in Aristotle and Averroes, the theory of minima naturalia had to await Latin Schoolmen for its full articulation. Recently scholars have shown that far from sporadic comments on minima naturalia , Averroes in fact had a fully developed and well-integrated theory of them. In this study, I complement these scholars’ important work by considering Avicenna’s place in the history and development of the doctrine of the minima naturalia . There is no study to date that mentions Avicenna in connection with this doctrine despite the fact that he dedicated an entire chapter to it in his Physics , yet Avicenna’s account is at least as developed as and even better integrated than Averroes’s presentation. The present study situates Avicenna’s position within the more general history of atomism, and introduces Avicenna’s “new argument” for natural minima. The argument is important not only for its novelty but also because it shows how Avicenna integrated Aristotle’s account of minima naturalia into a theory of mixture as well.
Authorization and Political Authority in Hobbes
Authors: Green Michael J.
Published: February 2015

In Hobbes’s social contract, the subjects authorize the sovereign’s actions. This is generally taken to mean that they extend their rights to the sovereign. However, authorization can also be used to establish mere ownership of the sovereign’s actions, without extending rights. This novel interpretation of authorization is used to explain why the social contract is internally consistent. It is also used to explain why authorization was important for Hobbes. One reason is that it gave sovereigns immunity from claims made by their subjects. Another reason is that it enabled sovereigns to escape the constraints put on them by the maxim that the king can do no wrong.
Leibniz on Perceptual Distinctness, Activity, and Sensation
Authors: Jorgensen Larry M.
Published: February 2015

Leibniz explains both activity and sensation in terms of the relative distinctness of perception. This paper argues that the systematic connection between activity and sensation is illuminated by Leibniz’s use of distinctness in analyzing each. Leibnizian sensation involves two levels of activity: on one level, the relative forcefulness of an expression enables certain expressions to stand out against the perceptual field, but in addition to this there is an activity of the mind that enables sensory experience. This connection of mental activity and perceptual distinctness enables us to better appreciate the fundamental role perceptual distinctness plays in Leibniz’s theory of sensation.
Fichtean Kantianism in Nineteenth-Century Ethics
Authors: Kosch Michelle
Published: February 2015

This paper aims to establish a historical fact that is both surprising and universally overlooked: that J.G. Fichte’s 1798 System of Ethics was seen, in the German-language philosophy of the first half of the nineteenth century, as the most important exemplar of systematic normative ethics on non-theological foundations. “Kantianism” during this period was taken to be better exemplified by Fichte’s System of Ethics than by any of Kant’s own works; and Fichte was both the starting point for proponents, and the chief target for opponents, of the Kantian project. After surveying the literature of the period with a view to establishing this fact, I draw from it three points of consensus about the relative merits of Kant’s and Fichte’s ethical writings that seem to explain Fichte’s status. Two of these concern substantive philosophical disagreements between Kant and Fichte about how best to articulate the basic Kantian project, and they illustrate the enduring interest of Fichte’s System of Ethics , which today is largely (and unjustly) neglected by historians of moral philosophy.
Quine, Russell, and Naturalism: From a Logical Point of View
Authors: Morris Sean
Published: February 2015

Most commentators have overlooked the impact of Russell on Quine, focusing instead on the influence of Carnap. In what follows, I will argue that the early Quine’s engagement with Russell’s logicism was a crucial stage in the development of his philosophy. More specifically, we can see Quine’s naturalism as developing out of a certain strand of Russell’s thought concerning scientific philosophy. In addition to giving us a better sense of the origins of Quine’s philosophy, this reading also shows how his early work, focusing mostly on technical areas of logic, is deeply related to his later and more famous philosophical views. In particular, his reworking of Principia Mathematica can be understood as the technical working-out of his view that the purpose of philosophy is the clarification our conceptual scheme.
Racial ‘Othering’ in Shi‘i Sacred History: Jawn ibn Huwayy the ‘African Slave’, and the Ethnicities of the Twelve Imams
Authors: Inloes Amina
Published: February 2015

This paper explores how Shi‘i sacred history and hagiography communicate social norms about race. It problematizes the characterization of Jawn ibn Huwayy in the Karbala narrative as the African slave at the Battle of Karbala (680 ad /61 ah ), and traces the evolution of a racialized portrayal of him in Shi‘i texts. It also raises the question of whether Jawn ibn Huwayy actually existed, or whether he was a racialized construction built upon the stereotype of an African slave who entered communal memory later. It contrasts the ‘othering’ of Jawn through his Africanness against the common perception of an Arabo-Iranian norm, reinforced through drawings of the twelve Imams with Arab or Iranian features. This norm is then challenged through presenting the Imams in an ethnic image which reflects their racial backgrounds (as reported in Shi‘i narrations) to create cognitive dissonance and explore subconscious assumptions about race and divine authority in contemporary Shi‘ism.
Performance and Potential of Islamic Finance: A Contextual Study in the UK
Authors: Hussain Mareem
Published: February 2015

During the last twenty years there has been increased global awareness of Islamic finance and extraordinary growth worldwide. Even in the wake of the global unrest currently experienced by financial markets, Islamic financial institutions maintained their stability and showed resistance. Additionally, they are reported to be gaining significant momentum even in non-Muslim countries, with the United Kingdom leading the way. This research paper highlights the performance of Islamic banks in the UK and examines individual customer views towards Islamic finance in order to place in context its future prospects. These twin research aims were met by means of an extensive review of relevant literature, a financial ratio analysis, and a survey questionnaire. The findings underline that Islamic banks slightly underperformed conventional banks, but were nonetheless growing at a faster rate. Additionally, customers showed considerable acceptance towards Islamic Banking, particularly those with an Islamic background. The main conclusion to be drawn is that Islamic finance displays positive future prospects, positing a suitable alternative to the conventional system, particularly during times of financial crisis.
Scepticism and Uncontested History: A Review Article
Authors: Husayn Nebil Ahmed
Published: February 2015

This article critically reviews the recent film and literary contributions of Tom Holland to the field of Islamic history. In the Shadow of the Sword chiefly narrates the history of the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires in vivid prose and through contemporaneous sources. However, the text falters in its narrative of the rise of Islamic civilisation by failing to incorporate recent methodological advancements in the field of Islamic history. Holland’s film, Islam: The Untold Story , similarly ignores research that has confirmed the early stabilisation of the text of the Qur’an as well as seventh-century Muslim and non-Muslim sources that discuss the early community. This article argues that the collective memory of mutually antagonistic sub-communities may also provide information about important public events in history. Methodologies that ignore Muslim literature to understand Islamic history are characterised as affirming early Orientalist assumptions that their Muslim subjects were culturally and intellectually impoverished. Theories that portray the Prophet Muhammad as incapable of independently producing the Qur’an in Mecca are dismissed as implausible in light of the collective memory of rival Muslim informants and conceptions of the sacred.
The “Debate on the Literature of Action” and Its Legacy: Ideological Struggles in 1930s Japan and the “Rebirth” of the Intellectual
Authors: Müller Simone
Published: February 2015

In the mid-1930s, a group of Japanese writers initiated a “literature of action” and, by appropriating the newly popular term chishikijin (intellectual), they pleaded for a renaissance of intellectuals. Their claims triggered a debate between liberal-humanists and orthodox Marxists on the sociopolitical mission of writers and the role of intellectuals. This debate was important in the shifting meaning of the term “intellectual” which reflected the cultural and political background of the time. It also laid the groundwork for the postwar debate on the social responsibility of the writer as intellectual, demonstrating the continuity in intellectual discourse between prewar and postwar Japan.
Lowering the Bar to Raise the Bar: Licensing Difficulty and Attorney Quality in Japan
Authors: Ramseyer J. Mark , Rasmusen Eric B.
Published: February 2015

By easing the difficulty of the Japanese bar-exam equivalent, recent changes increased the quality of young lawyers. The result is counterintuitive, but a relaxation in a licensing standard can have this effect if it lowers the costs to taking a test enough to increase the number and quality of the people willing to go to the trouble of sitting for it. We explore the theoretical circumstances under which this phenomenon can occur and discuss the evidence that this is indeed what happened in Japan.
Crime on the Estates: Justice and Politics in the Kōyasan Domain
Authors: Garrett Philip
Published: February 2015

In the early medieval period, Kōyasan developed increasingly close institutional and personal links with the society of its home province of Kii. To expand its control over nearby estates, the temple exploited the occurrence of “crime” and its ability to mete local justice to weaken the position of provincial warriors. Combining its judicial authority as estate proprietor with religious might, it imposed binding vows on troublemakers. This article traces the complex relationship between shōen society and temple power through a series of incidents and considers the balance between local and national sources of authority in the Kamakura period.