bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Middle East Studies & Subaltern Studies
Authors: Webber Sabra J.
Published: March 2016

Despite the physical proximity of the birthplace of Subaltern Studies, South Asia, to the Middle East and despite the convergent, colliding histories of these two regions, scholars of the Middle East attend very little to the Subaltern Studies project or to the work of Subaltern Studies groups. Although certain stances of Fanon and Said, with their focus on cultural strategies of domination and resistance, have a currency in Middle Eastern studies, no literary theorist, folklorist, anthropologist, political scientist or historian in the field of Middle Eastern Studies, so far as I am aware, explicitly draws upon Subaltern Studies with any consistency as an organizing principle for his or her studies. It is the Latin Americanists (and to a lesser degree Africanists) who have been most eager to build on South Asian Subaltern Studies to respond to Latin American (or subsanaran African) circumstances. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look at what Subaltern Studies might contribute to Middle Eastern studies if we were to make a sustained effort to apply and critique that body of literature.
Civil Society, Liberalism and the Corporatist Alternative
Authors: Norton Augustus Richard
Published: March 2016

In His Review essay on “Civil Society, Liberalism and the Corporatist Alternative in the Middle East,” Louis J. Cantori continues his indefatigable promotion of corporatism as a lens for understanding Middle East politics. Lou and I have been friends for many years, and I know that I probably will not be able to shake his deep attachment to corporatism. Nonetheless, since the inspiration for his latest peroration was the two volume collection on civil society in the Middle East that I edited, I thought readers of the Bulletin might be interested in my response to his assertions.
Between Celebration of Independence and Commemoration of Al-Nakbah: The Controversy over the Roots of the Israeli State
Authors: Kimmerling Baruch
Published: March 2016

When The Jubilee year of the founding of the State of Israel arrived, the market was flooded with books, periodicals, special issues, TV documentaries and albums marking the 50th anniversary. As expected, some of these products stimulated sharp controversies, as a part of recent debates over Israeli historiography, collective memory, and identity. Perhaps the most controversy was focused on the Channel One (public TV) series titled “Tkuma” (“Revival”). Contrary to expectations, the series presented the Israeli past a little bit more courageously and less canonically than the usual conservative Zionist version. It was by no means a “revisionist” history, but for the first time the general public was exposed to a more balanced and less mythical version of Israel’s history. The uprooting and expulsion of the Palestinians during the 1948 war and their transformation into a refugee camp society were briefly mentioned with some empathy. Clips from the well-known Syrian reconstruction of the massacre in Kafr Qassem were aired. In the segment on Palestinian armed struggle use was made of films from the PLO archives (captured by the Israeli secret services during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon). The discrimination and peripheralization of the immigrants from Arab countries and their violent reactions (the Wadi Salib riots and the Black Panthers’ demonstrations) were not blurred. In general, alongside the state’s great economic, cultural, and military achievements, some of the shadows were remembered as well, such as Ben-Gurion’s one-man leadership and Golda Meir’s refusal to make any territorial concessions in exchange for security arrangements (peace?). Even the inevitability of the 1967 and 1973 wars was questioned. The series was heavily attacked and accused of being anti-Zionist, especially by the right-wing establishment. The Minister of Communication, Limor Livnat, who is in charge of public broadcasting, tried to “supervise” the series and especially the segment on the PLO; however, she withdrew when she was accused of censorship.
New Information Technology Resources on the Middle East
Authors: Stanley Bruce
Published: March 2016

The Range of Information Technology (IT) resources available to support students studying the modern Middle East continues to expand. Some recent additions are traditional reference materials, now available on CD-ROM or via the Internet. Established projects for simulation can now be tailored to Middle East topics. Others are creative packages introducing students to key issues and concepts about the region. All broaden the options for teachers to facilitate student learning through innovative assignments, research projects, and hands-on modules. Recent experience with these resources indicates that they significantly enhance the learning environment by supplementing traditional “chalk and talk” pedagogy.
Middle East Studies in Japan
Authors: Kazuo Miyazi
Published: March 2016

The Purpose of this Paper is to present the history and the present status of Middle Eastern and North African Studies in Japan. As the status of the studies is closely related to the status of the relationships between Japan and the regions concerned, I will first write about the history of Japan-Middle East (including North Africa) relations and the relationship thereof to the studies.
Women Writing/Women Written: The Case of Oriental Women in English Colonial Fiction
Authors: Driss Hager Ben
Published: March 2016

Women's contribution to the building of the british empire has become by now undeniable. Standing at different vantagepoints, English women articulated, supported, and even innovated the colonial discourse. Though highly masculine in its ideological core, the Empire is far from being exclusively male in its rhetorical voice. Feminist postcolonial critics have shown British women's important participation in colonialism. McClintock, for example, claims that “white women were not the hapless onlookers of empire but were ambiguously complicit both as colonizers, privileged and restricted, acted upon and acting” (6).
Academic Irrelevance or Disciplinary Blind-Spot? Middle Eastern Studies and the Bahā'i Faith Today
Authors: Velasco Ismael
Published: March 2016

In the discussion that follows, I propose to inquire into some of the assumptions that may underlie the disciplinary paradigm of Middle Eastern, and particularly Iranian, studies, making this an interpretive essay on a neglected aspect of the field, rather than a research article as such. Nevertheless, I harbor hopes of stimulating discussion and bringing something of a fresh perspective to bear on a subject which, it is generally acknowledged, lies at the very edge of the Persianate tradition of religious innovation, and consequently at the margins of the academic efforts to understand and explain it: the life and legacy of the Iranian prophet-founder of the Bahā'í faith, Mirza Huseyn Ali “Bahā'u'llāh” (1817-92). The questions I will pose are in essence three: why is the religious innovation wrought by Bahā'u'llāh considered marginal by the majority of scholars of the Islamicate world? What does this attitude tell us about the conceptual boundaries within which these same scholars labor? And do these boundaries reflect the limits imposed by the evidence itself or do they reflect the limitations of the contemporary disciplinary paradigm?
Concerning the Archives
Authors: Shaw Wendy M. K.
Published: March 2016

“But You Might Discover Secrets that we don’t know we have,” he said with unmistakable irony. He knew that my project, concerning museums of a century ago, would most likely not uncover any deep dark secrets, much less any that would fall within the realm of any legal statute of limitations. And yet he also knew that there are few statutes of limits when it comes to the patrimony of cultural property, a patrimony which, as Turkish museum administrator, is his to protect in the name of the state and in the name of its citizens—and even to protect from those citizens, of which I am one. Yet in the supposition that I would most likely not uncover any secrets, and in full consciousness of the irony of his statement, he would still not allow me, an ‘outsider,’ free access to documents, in this case uncatalogued and as yet unseen, and which nonetheless I had designated as mine through their proximity to my project. The limits of my access were as arbitrary, by some standards, as the limits of my project: as many documents from century-old registers as I could list on two sides of a blank page. “Can I write extra small?” I asked, and we laughed in complicity, even though this time it was I who was fully conscious of the irony that the limits on these documents were not good news for my project, yet that his assertion of control provided one of the most important insights around my research: the nature of possession and the economy of a ‘free’ flow of information.
Rai's Travels
Authors: Swedenburg Ted
Published: March 2016

Rai music has traveled far and undergone remarkable transmutations since the early days of its development in Wahran (Oran) during the first decades of the twentieth century. Originally performed at weddings and in bars, mostly by women singers known as cheikhat, the instrumentation was simple (a reed flute known as a qasba, a single-stringed viol or rbab, and a hand drum known as the gellal) and the vocals, raucous and sometimes bawdy. The lyrics consisted of formulaic couplets, and mostly dealt with relations between men and women. The early recordings of rai's greatest female vocalist, Cheikha Rimitti are the essential foundation of any collection of rai music.
Scholarship, Policy, Debate and Conflict: Why We Study the Middle East and Why It Matters
Authors: Anderson Lisa
Published: March 2016

This has been a difficult year for people who study the Middle East – as it has been for people who live there. Memorable mostly for its dilemmas and disappointments, it has not been the kind of year on which one would ordinarily dwell. Yet there are important lessons in this year, lessons about the relationship between scholarship and policy, about the responsibilities imposed by an academic life in a time of deeply divisive debate and conflict, and about why what we do is profoundly important, not just to the small community of our professional peers but for the health of our society and of our world. It is to those questions – and the lessons I believe we must draw from the experience of this year – that I want to devote our attention this evening.
The IsmailiGinanTradition from the Indian Subcontinent
Authors: Gillani Karim
Published: March 2016

Ginan bolore nit nure bharea;Evo haide tamare harakh na maeji.Recite continually theginanswhich are filled with light;Boundless will be the joy in your heart.

Ginansare devotional songs rooted in the musical and poetic matrix of Indian culture. The term “ginan” carries a double significance: on the one hand, it means “religious knowledge” or “wisdom,” analogous to the Sanskrit wordjnana(knowledge). On the other hand, it means “song” or “recitation,” suggesting a link to the Arabicghannaand the Urdu/Hindighana, both verbs meaning “to sing.” For the past seven hundred years, Ismailis from the Indian subcontinent (Satpanth Khoja Ismailis) have been recitingginansas a part of their daily religious devotions at the congregational hall (Jamat Khana).
Conducting Research in Lebanon: An Overview of Historical Sources Outside of Beirut (Part II)
Authors: Sbaiti Nadya , Scalenghe Sara
Published: March 2016

Recent years have witnessed a concerted effort by researchers, archivists and others to preserve, catalog, and inform researchers about the many types of sources located in Lebanon. The publication of Part I of this guide to conducting historical research [see MESA Bulletin 37:1 (Summer 2003): 68-79] addressed archives, libraries, and institutes located in Beirut. This article is dedicated to those found in the rest of the country.

As with Part I, the archives and sources surveyed below comprise those that are open to the public and deemed to have the most potential for researchers. Although likely to be of most relevance to historians, these sources are such that they should also prove useful to scholars from other fields. Furthermore, access is constantly improving, thanks in no small part to the efforts underway at multiple institutions to organize and digitize manuscripts, court records, and a host of other documents.
“Enough, Enough, Oh Ocean”: Music of the Pearl Divers in the Arabian Gulf
Authors: Al-Taee Nasser
Published: March 2016

They fight death and all its elementsWhile smiling

O how I suffer from the long nightsWitnessing those motherless diversEvery time a month passes by, another followsUntil the eyes grow old.

Murshid bin Sa’d al-Bithali.

Oh, how lucky are the richWho no longer cross the ocean as me.

And again:If I was rich and a merchantI would never have endeavoredBut I'm weak and all I haveIs my cane.

Fahad Rashid Boorsely
Maps and Atlases of the Middle East
Authors: Hale Gerry A.
Published: March 2016

The current state of mapping for the Middle East has been conditioned by the particular needs of indigenous countries, by foreign national and private interests, by the demands of the Western public, and by the research interests of scholars. Middle Eastern countries themselves require maps for the purposes of administration and national development and thereby provide the main thrust for the production of maps by national and international agencies. Foreign states and companies having strategic or economic interests in the region, past or present, have also produced maps. The West’s long concern with the origins and evolution of its civilization has fostered efforts in historical cartography. Not the least have been the research interests of scholars, which have led to the drawing of maps to suit their sometimes peculiar needs.
Research Facilities in Iran
Authors: Ramazani Rouhollah K.
Published: March 2016

The appearance of new research facilities, as the spread of the very notion of modern research, is a recent development in Iranian society. In contrast with the social sciences and humanities, the physical sciences probably can show more extensive research facilities, as evidenced by the visible array of modern facilities ranging from spectrophotometers, chromatographic units, polarizing microscopes to electronic microscopes in addition to a growing number of libraries and laboratories. This article, however, is not concerned with research facilities in the physical sciences, even if some of these are of indirect interest to researchers in the social sciences. Nor will this article treat certain other facilities which may be of more direct interest to some social scientists, such as industrial research laboratories and standard testing laboratories. The scope of this article is limited to research facilities in the social sciences and humanities, but even in this limited area it is merely a preliminary study. This article will attempt (1) to identify the major research facilities in the social sciences and humanities; (2) to indicate broadly the overall research atmosphere in Iran today; and (3) to note a few practical points, hopefully useful to interested researchers.
Authoritarianism, Civil Society and Democracy in the Middle East: Mass Media in the Persian Gulf
Authors: Kazemi Farhad , Norton Augustus Richard
Published: March 2016

The published literature on the topic of “Authoritarianism, Civil Society, and Democracy in the Middle East” is extensive and unwieldy. Partly due to space constraints, we propose to review the topic under six framing questions and then provide a selected and representative bibliography at the end.

The ideas of political reform and democracy are often the mainstay of debates within Middle Eastern polities. In general, there is ample awareness of democracy deficit and poor governance in the region. Democracy refers most basically to the ability of citizens to hold their governments accountable, and to change their political leaders at regular intervals. Instead, accountability to the public is generally weak in the region, and rulers are more likely to change as a result of actuarial realities than a withdrawal of public confidence.
Integrating Western Modernism in Postcolonial Arabic Literature: A Study of Abdul-Wahhab Al-Bayati’s Poetics
Authors: Gohar Saddik
Published: March 2016

Discussing the banning of Salman Rushdie’sSatanic Versesin some Islamic countries, Vijay Mishra and Bob Hodge argue:

For the Islamic postcolonial world, the moral is clear and succinct: to write in the language of the colonizer is to write from within death itself. Postcolonial writers who write in the language of the Empire are marked off as traitors to the cause of a reconstructive post-colonialism. Postcolonial writers compose under the shadow of death (Williams & Chrisman 1993:277).

Apparently, the consequences triggered by the publication of Rushdie’s novel, in the preceding century, raised many significant questions about the relationship between East and West, colonized and colonizer. Nevertheless, the hostility toward the book in some Middle Eastern and Islamic countries is not related to the issue of language, identified by Mishra and Hodge as “the language of the empire.” The use of colonial languages rarely represents a threat to Islamic culture because unlike the literature of ex-colonies in Asia, Africa, South America, the West Indies and the Caribbean, dominantly written in the language of the western colonizers, literature in a large part of the Arab-Islamic world is composed in indigenous languages. It is important to point out therefore that the issue of language, raised above, is irrelevant because the campaign againstSatanic Versesis rooted in the radical constructs of religious hegemony integral to contemporary political Islamic doctrines.
Author in the Classroom: An Interview with Orhan Pamuk
Authors: Batur Pınar
Published: March 2016

While I was editing this interview with Orhan Pamuk in the Spring 2007, the media exploded with him: “Pamuk Wins the Nobel Prize!” It was not surprising, because for sometime now Orhan Pamuk has been known the world over as the “super hero” of Turkish literature. In Turkey, once again, the media turned its gaze away from Iraq, EU, unemployment, and questions of accountability in government, to contemplate why, how and what Pamuk had won, and the question of who is Orhan Pamuk? As the intensity of the debate increased, I began to wonder if Orhan Pamuk himself would be following it as if it was about somebody else. It certainly did not sound like the dissonance could be about one person, as the public contemplated him, unfolding multiple layers of his political convictions, his nationalism, his character, family, marriage, and private life. As the attention to his work disappeared, he was processed and reproduced by the media, with an effort that surpassed the media frenzy regarding his trial for his statements on genocide. Pamuk the author was replaced by Pamuk the image on the pages of tabloids. A year ago, when I asked if she had read Orhan Pamuk, a young woman in Istanbul had inquired, “Is he somebody?” Oh! Yes!, he is somebody, actually he has become more than that.
MESA Presidential Address 2007: Challenges and Responsibilities in a Time of Crisis
Authors: Lockman Zachary
Published: March 2016

Our annual meeting this year is distinguished both by its large number of participants and by its intellectual breadth and depth. To me these indicate, as I will be discussing a bit later, that Middle East studies as an academic field, and MESA as the pre-eminent professional organization in that field, are flourishing. But this annual meeting is, I would suggest, also significant because this year, for the first time since 1989, we are meeting outside the United States.
“Muslims to Take Over Institute for Contemporary Art”: The 1976 World of Islam Festival
Authors: Lenssen Anneka
Published: March 2016

The terms “Islamic” and ‘Arab” are not ideal instruments for classifying modern or contemporary art, for they are meta-categories that can variously encompass Muslims and non-Muslims, and Arabs and non-Arabs. Nonetheless, as historians of modern art in Islamic regions, we seem to have inherited a longstanding commitment to Islamic art as an epistemologically unique practice that produced limitless abstract patterns and other “non-Western” visual expression. It is time to move beyond such overburdened lineages. In this paper, I aim to historicize the formulations of a specific Arabo-Islamic aesthetic that emerged in the 1970s. I do so by a study of a single event and its metacultural claims: the World of Islam Festival held in London in 1976. The Festival projected optimistic countercultural options for art and civilization that remain instructive today, while the complexity of its organizing structures demonstrates the limitations of the West/rest paradigm in interpreting its artistic products.
History of the Modern Middle East
Authors: Jankowski James
Published: March 2016

The syllabi on modern Middle Eastern history courses submitted by members of MESA were, not unnaturally, varied in general approach, in time span and in area covered. There were certain common elements, however, within the framework of which this syllabus has largely remained. Four such congruences were most important:

1)

the use of a chronological rather than a topical or problems approach in teaching the history of the modern Middle East (while particular topics or problems were often isolated within a particular time period, all of the syllabi submitted used a chronological framework);

2)

a general tendency to begin with a brief survey of the medieval history of the Middle East before beginning intensive treatment at the beginning of the nineteenth century;

3)

an emphasis on internal development and modernization rather than on political-diplomatic history;

4)

the frequent use of reading assignments (a chapter from one work, a number of pages from another) from a variety of semi-specialized or monographic works rather than reliance on one or more texts or readers.
Turkish Language Instruction
Authors: Burrill Kathleen R.F.
Published: March 2016

This report follows the general lines established by Professors Peter F. Abboud and M.A. Jazayery when they dealt with Arabic and Persian respectively. Its purpose is to survey the development of Turkish language instruction in North America, to present and evaluate the present position, and finally to put forward some questions and recommendations for consideration in the future. Although responsibility for the general tenor and emphasis of the report is mine, I have been guided by the various opinions of my colleagues and have attempted to give these opinions a fair presentation. Towards this end I have not hesitated to indicate where there is divergence among us, or between us and those who teach in other, but related, areas.
Minutes of the Meeting of the Image Committee November 9, 1973 in Milwaukee
Authors: Ziadeh Farhat J.
Published: March 2016

It was agreed that the full report that was prepared by Mr. Griswold about the various books examined by the members of the Committee be published in the MESA Bulletin, but with the addition of the Canadian material plus some observations that some of us might have on that report.
Arabic Studies in Spain Today
Authors: Epalza Mikel de
Published: March 2016

It is no easy task to present the state of Arabic studies as a whole in Spain. Furthermore, the situation is constantly and normally evolving. I will nonetheless try to give a summary picture here.

In the first place one must present the bibliography of the other studies on this subject already published.
Middle East Studies in France
Authors: Santucci Robert
Published: March 2016

It is not easy to present a summary of Middle East studies in France. Traditionally located in several important institutions—Collège de France, School of Applied Higher Studies (EPHE), National School of Oriental Languages—they have burst out of these walls over the past two decades. Many courses on the Middle East are now given in the Universities of Paris and the provinces. The new organization of higher education created after the crisis of May 1968 was guided by a spirit of university autonomy and thus makes any general summary even more difficult. Several universities have often been created in the same city and specialists have been split up among them rather than remaining together.
The Tunisian Records
Authors: Hunter F. Robert
Published: March 2016

The Protectorate archives deal with the period before and after 1881 and include a wide range of materials, among which are telegraphic communications between Paris and Tunis and correspondence from the French consular agencies and vice-consulates in the Tunisian countryside. By 1872 there were, officially, nine such posts: Bizerte, Gabès, Jerba, La Goulette, Mehdia, Monastir, Sfax, Sousse, and Kef. However, cartons for the pre-Protectorate period contain correspondence from French agents in other places (e.g., Beja, Djerid) as well.
Politics Among Nations: Revisiting a Classic
Authors: Frei Christoph
Published: March 2016

When introducing Politics Among Nations to his readers in the fall of 1948, Hans Morgenthau was explicit about the volume's ultimate purpose. His book was neither “disinterested” nor did it mean to offer “knowledge for its own sake.” Rather, the author meant to render both a real and practical service to his fellow countrymen. A series of factors had “completely reversed” the geopolitical status of the United States. It now held a position of predominant power in the world, and hence of foremost responsibility. Therefore, “the understanding of the forces that mold international politics and of the factors that determine its course has become more than an interesting intellectual occupation. It has become a vital necessity.”
Introduction
Authors: Winegar Jessica , Bishara Amahl
Published: March 2016

The culture concept is at the core of some prominent political struggles in the Middle East. In contests over land, human rights, religious expression, material culture, development, and even economic policy, advocates shore up moral authority, co-opt or delegitimize opposition, and constitute new collectivities by drawing on the multivalent possibilities contained within the culture concept in its various historically constituted regional and global formations. As a concept that can mean both the sum of a people’s customs, traditions, ideas, etc.,andthe best that humans have thought and said, it contains powerful means for creating solidarities, differences, and hierarchies. Although notions of culture have long been a feature of politics in the region, most notably in nationalist movements and in the civilizing missions of colonial powers and nation-states, their proliferation and commodification over the past thirty years is notable and deserves analysis.
Palestinian Christian Networked Activism: Reifying “Nonviolence” or Divining Justice?
Authors: Bishara Amahl
Published: March 2016

For two years now, a new kind of Christmas service has taken place in the Bethlehem Chapel of the Washington National Cathedral. Located steps away from the celestial stained glass windows and great organ of the cathedral’s main nave, the Bethlehem Chapel’s vaulted ceiling and rows of stone columns have an intimate feel as the room fills with people and winter coats. The chapel has a material bond with its namesake, as its limestone foundation was imported from a Bethlehem quarry a century ago. These Christmas services renewed that relationship in a markedly twenty-first century way, as congregants in D.C. came together in prayer with their counterparts from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem by way of video simulcast. And, thanks to the wonders of webcasting, anyone anywhere with a speedy internet connection could join.
At the Intersection of Ice and Water
Authors: Wheeling Kate
Published: March 2016

Scientists observe ice dynamics in water-terminating glaciers around the world to better understand how the process of subaqueous melt drives ice loss.
Wnt activation protects against neomycin-induced hair cell damage in the mouse cochlea
Authors: Liu L , Chen Y , Qi J , Zhang Y , He Y , Ni W , Li W , Zhang S , Sun S , Taketo M M , Wang L , Chai R , Li H
Published: March 2016

Recent studies have reported the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in hair cell (HC) development, regeneration, and differentiation in the mouse cochlea; however, the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in HC protection remains unknown. In this study, we took advantage of transgenic mice to specifically knockout or overactivate the canonical Wnt signaling mediator β-catenin in HCs, which allowed us to investigate the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in protecting HCs against neomycin-induced damage. We first showed that loss of β-catenin in HCs made them more vulnerable to neomycin-induced injury, while constitutive activation of β-catenin in HCs reduced HC loss both in vivo and in vitro. We then showed that loss of β-catenin in HCs increased caspase-mediated apoptosis induced by neomycin injury, while β-catenin overexpression inhibited caspase-mediated apoptosis. Finally, we demonstrated that loss of β-catenin in HCs led to increased expression of forkhead box O3 transcription factor (Foxo3) and Bim along with decreased expression of antioxidant enzymes; thus, there were increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after neomycin treatment that might be responsible for the increased aminoglycoside sensitivity of HCs. In contrast, β-catenin overexpression reduced Foxo3 and Bim expression and ROS levels, suggesting that β-catenin is protective against neomycin-induced HC loss. Our findings demonstrate that Wnt/β-catenin signaling has an important role in protecting HCs against neomycin-induced HC loss and thus might be a new therapeutic target for the prevention of HC death.
Macroscopic self-reorientation of interacting two-dimensional crystals
Authors: Woods C. R. , Withers F. , Zhu M. J. , Cao Y. , Yu G. , Kozikov A. , Ben Shalom M. , Morozov S. V. , van Wijk M. M. , Fasolino A. , Katsnelson M. I. , Watanabe K. , Taniguchi T. , Geim A. K. , Mishchenko A. , Novoselov K. S.
Published: March 2016

Microelectromechanical systems, which can be moved or rotated with nanometre precision, already find applications in such fields as radio-frequency electronics, micro-attenuators, sensors and many others. Especially interesting are those which allow fine control over the motion on the atomic scale because of self-alignment mechanisms and forces acting on the atomic level. Such machines can produce well-controlled movements as a reaction to small changes of the external parameters. Here we demonstrate that, for the system of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride, the interplay between the van der Waals and elastic energies results in graphene mechanically self-rotating towards the hexagonal boron nitride crystallographic directions. Such rotation is macroscopic (for graphene flakes of tens of micrometres the tangential movement can be on hundreds of nanometres) and can be used for reproducible manufacturing of aligned van der Waals heterostructures.
In vivo cross-sectional imaging of the phonating larynx using long-range Doppler optical coherence tomography
Authors: Coughlan Carolyn A. , Chou Li-dek , Jing Joseph C. , Chen Jason J. , Rangarajan Swathi , Chang Theodore H. , Sharma Giriraj K. , Cho Kyoungrai , Lee Donghoon , Goddard Julie A. , Chen Zhongping , Wong Brian J. F.
Published: March 2016

Diagnosis and treatment of vocal fold lesions has been a long-evolving science for the otolaryngologist. Contemporary practice requires biopsy of a glottal lesion in the operating room under general anesthesia for diagnosis. Current in-office technology is limited to visualizing the surface of the vocal folds with fiber-optic or rigid endoscopy and using stroboscopic or high-speed video to infer information about submucosal processes. Previous efforts using optical coherence tomography (OCT) have been limited by small working distances and imaging ranges. Here we report the first full field, high-speed, and long-range OCT images of awake patients’ vocal folds as well as cross-sectional video and Doppler analysis of their vocal fold motions during phonation. These vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser source (VCSEL) OCT images offer depth resolved, high-resolution, high-speed, and panoramic images of both the true and false vocal folds. This technology has the potential to revolutionize in-office imaging of the larynx.
Structure of ThiM from Vitamin B1 biosynthetic pathway of Staphylococcus aureus – Insights into a novel pro-drug approach addressing MRSA infections
Authors: Drebes Julia , Künz Madeleine , Windshügel Björn , Kikhney Alexey G. , Müller Ingrid B. , Eberle Raphael J. , Oberthür Dominik , Cang Huaixing , Svergun Dmitri I. , Perbandt Markus , Betzel Christian , Wrenger Carsten
Published: March 2016

Infections caused by the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are today known to be a substantial threat for global health. Emerging multi-drug resistant bacteria have created a substantial need to identify and discover new drug targets and to develop novel strategies to treat bacterial infections. A promising and so far untapped antibiotic target is the biosynthesis of vitamin B1 (thiamin). Thiamin in its activated form, thiamin pyrophosphate, is an essential co-factor for all organisms. Therefore, thiamin analogous compounds, when introduced into the vitamin B1 biosynthetic pathway and further converted into non-functional co-factors by the bacterium can function as pro-drugs which thus block various co-factor dependent pathways. We characterized one of the key enzymes within the S. aureus vitamin B1 biosynthetic pathway, 5-(hydroxyethyl)-4-methylthiazole kinase (SaThiM; EC 2.7.1.50), a potential target for pro-drug compounds and analyzed the native structure of SaThiM and complexes with the natural substrate 5-(hydroxyethyl)-4-methylthiazole (THZ) and two selected substrate analogues.
Complement factor H binding of monomeric C-reactive protein downregulates proinflammatory activity and is impaired with at risk polymorphic CFH variants
Authors: Molins Blanca , Fuentes-Prior Pablo , Adán Alfredo , Antón Rosa , Arostegui Juan I. , Yagüe Jordi , Dick Andrew D.
Published: March 2016

Inflammation and immune-mediated processes are pivotal to the pathogenic progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Although plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) have been shown to be associated with an increased risk for AMD, the pathophysiological importance of the prototypical acute-phase reactant in the etiology of the disease is unknown and data regarding the exact role of CRP in ocular inflammation are limited. In this study, we provide mechanistic insight into how CRP contributes to the development of AMD. In particular, we show that monomeric CRP (mCRP) but not the pentameric form (pCRP) upregulates IL-8 and CCL2 levels in retinal pigment epithelial cells. Further, we show that complement factor H (FH) binds mCRP to dampen its proinflammatory activity. FH from AMD patients carrying the “risk” His402 polymorphism displays impaired binding to mCRP and therefore proinflammatory effects of mCRP remain unrestrained.
Twin Boundaries merely as Intrinsically Kinematic Barriers for Screw Dislocation Motion in FCC Metals
Authors: Zhang Jiayong , Zhang Hongwu , Ye Hongfei , Zheng Yonggang
Published: March 2016

Metals with nanoscale twins have shown ultrahigh strength and excellent ductility, attributed to the role of twin boundaries (TBs) as strong barriers for the motion of lattice dislocations. Though observed in both experiments and simulations, the barrier effect of TBs is rarely studied quantitatively. Here, with atomistic simulations and continuum based anisotropic bicrystal models, we find that the long-range interaction force between coherent TBs and screw dislocations is negligible. Further simulations of the pileup behavior of screw dislocations in front of TBs suggest that screw dislocations can be blocked kinematically by TBs due to the change of slip plane, leading to the pileup of subsequent dislocations with the elastic repulsion actually from the pinned dislocation in front of the TB. Our results well explain the experimental observations that the variation of yield strength with twin thickness for ultrafine-grained copper follows the Hall-Petch relationship.
Novel GRN Mutations in Patients with Corticobasal Syndrome
Authors: Taghdiri Foad , Sato Christine , Ghani Mahdi , Moreno Danielle , Rogaeva Ekaterina , Tartaglia Maria Carmela
Published: March 2016

Loss-of-function GRN mutations lead to GRN haploinsufficiency and consequently neurodegeneration with significant heterogeneity in clinical presentation of various syndromes. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetics and clinical features of patients with GRN-related frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) syndromes. We performed mutation analysis of GRN in 45 unrelated Canadian patients with a broad spectrum of FTLD-like syndromes (mean age at onset of 64.0 ± 11.2 years). In our cohort, two patients were carriers of two novel heterozygous alterations in GRN: 2 bp insertion (c.769–770insCC:p.Q257fs) and 12 bp deletion (c.1009–1020del:p.337–340del). Both patients presented with corticobasal syndrome supported by clinical and radiological findings. The absence of the mutant allele in the RT–PCR product was only observed for the sample with 2 bp insertion in GRN. In contrast, the allele with 12 bp deletion in GRN was not down-regulated at the RNA level and did not segregate with FTLD in the family. Our report extends the evidence for genetic and phenotypic variability in FTLD disorders and detects a novel pathogenic GRN mutation, carriers of which could eventually help to evaluate the efficacy of different treatments at early stages of dementia.
Intrinsic phenotypic stability of a bi-stable auto regulatory gene
Authors: Besya Azim-Berdy , Grönlund Andreas
Published: March 2016

Even under homogenous conditions clonal cells can assume different distinct states for generations to follow, also known as epigenetic inheritance. Such long periods of different phenotypic states can be formed due to the existence of more than one stable state in the molecule concentration, where the different states are explored through molecular fluctuations. By formulating a single reaction variable representing the birth and death of molecules, including transcription, translation and decay, we calculate the escape time from the phenotypic states attained from autocatalytic synthesis through a Fokker- Planck formulation and integration of an effective pseudo-potential. We calculate the stability of the phenotypic states both for cooperative binding feedback and dimer binding feedback, resulting in non-linear decay.
A highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence biosensor for the detection of organophosphate pesticides based on cyclodextrin functionalized graphitic carbon nitride and enzyme inhibition
Authors: Wang Bingxin , Wang Haijun , Zhong Xia , Chai Yaqin , Chen Shihong , Yuan Ruo
Published: March 2016

The work describes that a signal on an ECL biosensor using β-CD functionalized g-C3N4 as the luminophore was constructed for sensitive OP detection based on the enzyme inhibition mechanism.
Non-adiabatic excited state molecular dynamics of phenylene ethynylene dendrimer using a multiconfigurational Ehrenfest approach
Authors: Fernandez-Alberti Sebastian , Makhov Dmitry V. , Tretiak Sergei , Shalashilin Dmitrii V.
Published: March 2016

Photoinduced dynamics of electronic and vibrational unidirectional energy transfer between meta-linked building blocks in a phenylene ethynylene dendrimer is simulated using a multiconfigurational Ehrenfest in time-dependent diabatic basis (MCE-TDDB) method.
Effects of oxygen coverage, catalyst size, and core composition on Pt-alloy core–shell nanoparticles for oxygen reduction reaction
Authors: Praserthdam Supareak , Balbuena Perla B.
Published: March 2016

This study focuses on the analysis of Pt-based alloy nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology.
Colloidal quantum dot ligand engineering for high performance solar cells
Authors: Wang Ruili , Shang Yuequn , Kanjanaboos Pongsakorn , Zhou Wenjia , Ning Zhijun , Sargent Edward H.
Published: March 2016

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are fast-improving materials for next-generation solution-processed optoelectronic devices such as solar cells, photocatalysis, light emitting diodes, and photodetectors.
Electrochemical recycling of lead from hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites using deep eutectic solvents
Authors: Poll Christopher G. , Nelson Geoffrey W. , Pickup David M. , Chadwick Alan V. , Riley D. Jason , Payne David J.
Published: March 2016

A viable electrochemical solution to lead-based hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites photovoltaic material recycling is demonstrated.
A high performance three-phase enzyme electrode based on superhydrophobic mesoporous silicon nanowire arrays for glucose detection
Authors: Xu Chenlong , Song Zhiqian , Xiang Qun , Jin Jian , Feng Xinjian
Published: March 2016

We describe here a high performance oxygen-rich three-phase enzyme electrode based on superhydrophobic mesoporous silicon nanowire arrays for glucose detection.
Novel insights intol-cysteine adsorption on transition metal doped graphene: influences of the dopant and the vacancy
Authors: Luo Huijuan , Li Hejun , Xia Zhenhai , Chu Yanhui , Zheng Jiming , Hou Zhengxiong , Fu Qiangang
Published: March 2016

Unprotonatedl-cysteine is docked on single-vacancy and double-vacancy graphenes doped with transition metals from Sc to Zn. The adsystems exhibit interesting adsorption stability and magnetism.
A fluorescent nanoprobe based on metal-enhanced fluorescence combined with Förster resonance energy transfer for the trace detection of nitrite ions
Authors: Liu Yong-liang , Kang Ning , Ke Xue-bin , Wang Dong , Ren Lei , Wang Hong-jun
Published: March 2016

Fluorescent nanoprobe utilizing metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF), Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and coating with denatured bovine serum albumin (dBSA).
Towards universal ambient ionization: direct elemental analysis of solid substrates using microwave plasma ionization
Authors: Evans-Nguyen K. M. , Gerling J. , Brown H. , Miranda M. , Windom A. , Speer J.
Published: March 2016

A microwave plasma was used for direct ambient ionization mass spectrometry of solid substrates, rapidly yielding atomic spectra without sample digestion or pre-treatment.
Fastest non-ionic azo dyes and transfer of their thermal isomerisation kinetics into liquid-crystalline materials
Authors: Garcia-Amorós Jaume , R. Castro M. Cidália , Coelho Paulo , M. Raposo M. Manuela , Velasco Dolores
Published: March 2016

Neutral azo dyes, based on push–pull bithienylpyrrole systems, exhibit thermal isomerisation rates as fast as 1.4 μs.
Discovery of a 19F MRI sensitive salinomycin derivative with high cytotoxicity towards cancer cells
Authors: Shi Qiuyan , Li Yu , Bo Shaowei , Li Xiaofei , Zhao Peng , Liu Qi , Yang Zhigang , Cong Hengjiang , Deng Hexiang , Chen Mingnan , Chen Shizhen , Zhou Xin , Ding Hong , Jiang Zhong-Xing
Published: March 2016

The first 19F MRI sensitive theranostic agent was discovered through site-specific modification of salinomycin and click library derivatization.
A DFT-based comparative equilibrium study of thermal dehydration and hydrolysis of CaCl2 hydrates and MgCl2 hydrates for seasonal heat storage
Authors: Pathak Amar Deep , Nedea Silvia , Zondag Herbert , Rindt Camilo , Smeulders David
Published: March 2016

An equilibrium based comparative study of CaCl2 and MgCl2 hydrates reveals that CaCl2 hydrates have better resistance against hydrolysis compared to MgCl2 hydrates; therefore it can improve the durability of chloride based salt hydrates.
Spin-dependent deprotonation induced giant magnetocurrent in electrochemical cells
Authors: Pan Haiping , Shen Yan , Duan Jiashun , Lu Kai , Hu Bin
Published: March 2016

Spin-dependent deprotonation can be used as a new mechanism to generate giant magnetocurrent based on non-magnetic electrochemical systems.
Synthesis, physical properties and application of the zero-valent iron/titanium dioxide heterocomposite having high activity for the sustainable photocatalytic removal of hexavalent chromium in water
Authors: Petala Eleni , Baikousi Maria , Karakassides Michael A. , Zoppellaro Giorgio , Filip Jan , Tuček Jiří , Vasilopoulos Konstantinos C. , Pechoušek Jiří , Zbořil Radek
Published: March 2016

A magnetic photocatalytic nanocomposite was prepared with enhanced removal capability for Cr(vi) due to synergistic effects.
Synthesis, characterization, and mechanism analysis of S = 2 quasi-one-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor Pb2Mn(VO4)2(OH)
Authors: Zhang Suyun , Xiang Hongping , Guo Wenbin , Tang Yingying , Cui Meiyan , He Zhangzhen
Published: March 2016

A new S = 2 quasi-one-dimensional magnetic material, Pb2Mn(VO4)2(OH), is synthesized. Theoretical and experimental studies demonstrated that it is a ferromagnetic semiconductor.
A novel synergistic composite with multi-functional effects for high-performance Li–S batteries
Authors: Li Yi-Juan , Fan Jing-Min , Zheng Ming-Sen , Dong Quan-Feng
Published: March 2016

A MOF-derived composite with multi-functional effects for high-performance Li–S batteries, especially its Co–N dual-catalyzing for S redox.
Selective electrochemical reduction of CO2 to different alcohol products by an organically doped alloy catalyst
Authors: Yang Heng-Pan , Yue Ying-Na , Qin Sen , Wang Huan , Lu Jia-Xing
Published: March 2016

A highly recyclable organically doped alloy catalyst for electrochemical reduction of CO2 to different alcohols.
Production of renewable lubricants via self-condensation of methyl ketones
Authors: Balakrishnan Madhesan , Arab George E. , Kunbargi Omar B. , Gokhale Amit A. , Grippo Adam M. , Toste F. Dean , Bell Alexis T.
Published: March 2016

Self-condensation of biomass-derived methyl ketones catalyzed by solid bases or acids produces corresponding cyclic trimers exclusively in excellent yields. Hydrogenated versions of such trimers can be good lubricants.
EDTA-treated cotton-thread microfluidic device used for one-step whole blood plasma separation and assay
Authors: Ulum Mokhamad Fakhrul , Maylina Leni , Noviana Deni , Wicaksono Dedy Hermawan Bagus
Published: March 2016

Whole blood plasma separation and assay using EDTA-treated cotton thread.
Controlled assembly of heterotypic cells in a core–shell scaffold: organ in a droplet
Authors: Chen Qiushui , Utech Stefanie , Chen Dong , Prodanovic Radivoje , Lin Jin-Ming , Weitz David A.
Published: March 2016

Organ in a drop: we use droplet-based microfluidics to fabricate large-scale, monodisperse, portable micro organs, each in an individual drop. We spatially assemble hepatocytes and fibroblasts in a biocompatible core–shell scaffold, forming an artificial liver in each drop, and expressing enhanced liver-specific functions.