bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Orientation Histogram-Based Center-Surround Interaction: An Integration Approach for Contour Detection
Authors: Zhao Rongchang , Wu Min , Liu Xiyao , Zou Beiji , Li Fangfang
Published: November 2016

Contour is a critical feature for image description and object recognition in many computer vision tasks. However, detection of object contour remains a challenging problem because of disturbances from texture edges. This letter proposes a scheme to handle texture edges by implementing contour integration. The proposed scheme integrates structural segments into contours while inhibiting texture edges with the help of the orientation histogram-based center-surround interaction model. In the model, local edges within surroundings exert a modulatory effect on central contour cues based on the co-occurrence statistics of local edges described by the divergence of orientation histograms in the local region. We evaluate the proposed scheme on two well-known challenging boundary detection data sets (RuG and BSDS500). The experiments demonstrate that our scheme achieves a high [Formula: see text]-measure of up to 0.74. Results show that our scheme achieves integrating accurate contour while eliminating most of texture edges, a novel approach to long-range feature analysis.
Active Inference: A Process Theory
Authors: Friston Karl , FitzGerald Thomas , Rigoli Francesco , Schwartenbeck Philipp , Pezzulo Giovanni
Published: November 2016

This article describes a process theory based on active inference and belief propagation. Starting from the premise that all neuronal processing (and action selection) can be explained by maximizing Bayesian model evidence—or minimizing variational free energy—we ask whether neuronal responses can be described as a gradient descent on variational free energy. Using a standard (Markov decision process) generative model, we derive the neuronal dynamics implicit in this description and reproduce a remarkable range of well-characterized neuronal phenomena. These include repetition suppression, mismatch negativity, violation responses, place-cell activity, phase precession, theta sequences, theta-gamma coupling, evidence accumulation, race-to-bound dynamics, and transfer of dopamine responses. Furthermore, the (approximately Bayes’ optimal) behavior prescribed by these dynamics has a degree of face validity, providing a formal explanation for reward seeking, context learning, and epistemic foraging. Technically, the fact that a gradient descent appears to be a valid description of neuronal activity means that variational free energy is a Lyapunov function for neuronal dynamics, which therefore conform to Hamilton’s principle of least action.
Analytical Calculation of Mutual Information between Weakly Coupled Poisson-Spiking Neurons in Models of Dynamically Gated Communication
Authors: Cannon Jonathan
Published: November 2016

Mutual information is a commonly used measure of communication between neurons, but little theory exists describing the relationship between mutual information and the parameters of the underlying neuronal interaction. Such a theory could help us understand how specific physiological changes affect the capacity of neurons to synaptically communicate, and, in particular, they could help us characterize the mechanisms by which neuronal dynamics gate the flow of information in the brain. Here we study a pair of linear-nonlinear-Poisson neurons coupled by a weak synapse. We derive an analytical expression describing the mutual information between their spike trains in terms of synapse strength, neuronal activation function, the time course of postsynaptic currents, and the time course of the background input received by the two neurons. This expression allows mutual information calculations that would otherwise be computationally intractable. We use this expression to analytically explore the interaction of excitation, information transmission, and the convexity of the activation function. Then, using this expression to quantify mutual information in simulations, we illustrate the information-gating effects of neural oscillations and oscillatory coherence, which may either increase or decrease the mutual information across the synapse depending on parameters. Finally, we show analytically that our results can quantitatively describe the selection of one information pathway over another when multiple sending neurons project weakly to a single receiving neuron.
The effect of size-assortative mating on fertilization success of the common toad (Bufo bufo)
Authors: Chajma Petr , Vojar Jiří
Published: November 2016

Although size-assortative mating (SAM) is a frequently studied phenomenon in anurans, its effect on fitness rarely has been evaluated. Using a controlled experiment, we assessed the presence of SAM in the common toad,Bufo bufo, and evaluated the effect on fertilization success of male-female size (snout-vent length, SVL) difference and ratio in mated pairs. Even though the toads paired non-randomly with respect to size, the difference and ratio of female and male SVL in pairs had no significant effect on fertilization success. Our findings and the majority of other studies suggest that the commonly accepted idea that SAM serves to maximize fitness may not be completely accurate. The statistical power and effect size in these studies are often poor, however, and the methods used are inconsistent. We conclude that more manipulative experiments with appropriate sample sizes are needed to fully understand this phenomenon.
Religion as Social Reality
Authors: Rota Andrea
Published: November 2016

In this article I argue that the shift from a private to a public–social understanding of religion raises new ontological and epistemological questions for the scientific study of religion\s. These questions are deeply related to three central features of the emic–etic debate, namely the problems of intentionality, objectivity, and comparison. Focusing on these interrelated issues, I discuss the potential of John Searle’s philosophy of society for the scientific study of religion\s. Considering the role of intentionality at the social level, I present Searle’s concept of “social ontology” and discuss its epistemological implications. To clarify Searle’s position regarding the objectivity of the social sciences, I propose a heuristic model contrasting different stances within the scientific study of religion\s. Finally, I explore some problematic aspects of Searle’s views for a comparative study of religion\s, and sketch a solution within his framework. I shall argue that a distinction between the epistemological and ontological dimensions of religious affairs would help clarify the issues at stake in the past and future of the emic–etic debate.
On the Scalar Nature of Arabic Diminutives
Authors: Kagan Olga , Qtit Mostafa
Published: November 2016

This paper investigates the semantics of the Arabic diminutive (DIM) created with the use of the fuʿayl template. DIM may contribute a wide range of sub-meanings, including smallness in size, low quantity, low quality, spatial and temporal proximity, etc. We put forward a scalar analysis according to which DIM systematically maps an argument of the stem to a relatively low degree on a scale. In particular, this degree is lower than the standard of comparison, independently supplied either by the context or by the linguistic environment. The scale in question, we argue, is not lexicalized by DIM but rather contributed by the stem to which DIM applies. The contrast between the various sub-meanings of DIM is thus reduced mainly to the differences between the environments in which it appears.
Cirrus Clouds
Authors: Heymsfield Andrew J. , Krämer Martina , Luebke Anna , Brown Phil , Cziczo Daniel J. , Franklin Charmaine , Lawson Paul , Lohmann Ulrike , McFarquhar Greg , Ulanowski Zbigniew , Van Tricht Kristof
Published: November 2016

The goal of this chapter is to synthesize information about what is now known about one of the three main types of clouds, cirrus, and to identify areas where more knowledge is needed. Cirrus clouds, composed of ice particles, form in the upper troposphere, where temperatures are generally below −30°C. Satellite observations show that the maximum-occurrence frequency of cirrus is near the tropics, with a large latitudinal movement seasonally. In situ measurements obtained over a wide range of cirrus types, formation mechanisms, temperatures, and geographical locations indicate that the ice water content and particle size generally decrease with decreasing temperature, whereas the ice particle concentration is nearly constant or increases slightly with decreasing temperature. High ice concentrations, sometimes observed in strong updrafts, result from homogeneous nucleation. The satellite-based and in situ measurements indicate that cirrus ice crystals typically differ from the simple, idealized geometry for smooth hexagonal shapes, indicating complexity and/or surface roughness. Their shapes significantly impact cirrus radiative properties and feedbacks to climate. Cirrus clouds, one of the most uncertain components of general circulation models (GCM), pose one of the greatest challenges in predicting the rate and geographical pattern of climate change. Improved measurements of the properties and size distributions and surface structure of small ice crystals (about 20 μm) and identifying the dominant ice nucleation process (heterogeneous versus homogeneous ice nucleation) under different cloud dynamical forcings will lead to a better representation of their properties in GCM and in modeling their current and future effects on climate.
Retrieval of Vertical Air Motion in Precipitating Clouds Using Mie Scattering and Comparison with In Situ Measurements
Authors: Fang Ming , Albrecht Bruce , Jung Eunsil , Kollias Pavlos , Jonsson Haflidi , PopStefanija Ivan
Published: November 2016

For the first time, the Mie notch retrieval technique is applied to airborne cloud Doppler radar observations in warm precipitating clouds to retrieve the vertical air velocity profile above the aircraft. The retrieval algorithm prescribed here accounts for two major sources of bias: aircraft motion and horizontal wind. The retrieval methodology is evaluated using the aircraft in situ vertical air velocity measurements. The standard deviations of the residuals for the retrieved and in situ measured data for an 18-s time segment are 0.21 and 0.24 m s−1, respectively; the mean difference between the two is 0.01 m s−1. For the studied cases, the total theoretical uncertainty is less than 0.19 m s−1 and the actual retrieval uncertainty is about 0.1 m s−1. These results demonstrate that the Mie notch technique combined with the bias removal procedure described in this paper can successfully retrieve vertical air velocity from airborne radar observations with low spectral broadening due to Doppler fading, which enables new opportunities in cloud and precipitation research. A separate spectral peak due to returns from the cloud droplets is also observed in the same radar Doppler spectra and is also used to retrieve vertical air motion. The vertical air velocities retrieved using the two different methods agree well with each other, and the correlation coefficient is as high as 0.996, which indicates that the spectral peak due to cloud droplets might provide another way to retrieve vertical air velocity in clouds when the Mie notch is not detected but the cloud droplets’ spectral peak is discernable.
An Unhelpful Label: Reading the ‘Lutheran’ Reading of Paul
Authors: Prothro James B.
Published: November 2016

The adjective ‘Lutheran’ is a conventional label in Pauline studies with a highly negative connotation. However, its conventional usage appears to have broadened, now with different meanings in different authors and different modes of reference that are inconsistently used, ranging from ‘of Luther’ to ‘Lutheran’ to ‘like-Lutherans’ to ‘traditionalist’. The present study surveys the label’s use in Pauline studies and evaluates potential criteria for its predication. It ultimately suggests guidelines for future use, both in the interest of academic clarity and out of fairness to the living tradition that bears this name.
Affliction for Procreators in the Eschatological Crisis: Paul’s Marital Counsel in 1 Corinthians 7.28 and Contraception in Greco-Roman Antiquity
Authors: Gundry Judith M.
Published: November 2016

The interpretation of 1 Cor. 7 in terms of an ideal of sexual asceticism has been widely critiqued and fallen out of favor. The majority of scholars explain Paul’s preference for celibacy in terms of its expedience (1) for serving the Lord (cf. 7.32-35) and (2) for avoiding ‘affliction in earthly life’ (cf. 7.28). Against the latter reason to prefer celibacy, this article argues that Paul associates procreation, not marriage, with affliction, and that he warns those who marry in order to procreate to expect affliction in the last days. Marriage and sex are (now) simply to avoid ‘burning’ with sexual desire, leading to sexual immorality, not for having children. In support, Paul abandons the traditional obligation of procreation and procreative sex and permits sexual abstinence ‘by agreement, for a period [fit for something] in order to devote yourselves to prayer’ (7.5b). The unstated purpose here is to spare the Corinthians affliction as a result of having children in the coming days, as expected in some apocalyptic texts which also refer to the use of birth control and family planning to avoid suffering and death.
Transnational celebrity and the fashion icon: The case of Tilda Swinton, ‘visual performance artist at large’
Authors: Radner Hilary
Published: November 2016

Tilda Swinton’s status as a fashion icon exemplifies the contradictory functions that Walter Benjamin attributes to fashion as both exemplifying commodity fetishism and expressing a utopian ‘image wish’. This vexed relationship with fashion inflects Swinton’s cinematic performances, enhanced by her emphasis on disguise and transformation that calls into question the nature of identity and its authenticity. Her persona speaks to the fluid and fragmented dimensions of contemporary European identities, which are rooted, but also cross borders, national and otherwise; similarly, her public presence testifies to the way that contemporary culture has generated new forms of celebrity as a means of representing identities in which the negotiation of gender is a significant component.
Most of the tight positional conservation of transcription factor binding sites near the transcription start site reflects their co-localization within regulatory modules
Authors: Acevedo-Luna Natalia , Mariño-Ramírez Leonardo , Halbert Armand , Hansen Ulla , Landsman David , Spouge John L.
Published: November 2016

Background

Transcription factors (TFs) form complexes that bind regulatory modules (RMs) within DNA, to control specific sets of genes. Some transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) near the transcription start site (TSS) display tight positional preferences relative to the TSS. Furthermore, near the TSS, RMs can co-localize TFBSs with each other and the TSS. The proportion of TFBS positional preferences due to TFBS co-localization within RMs is unknown, however. ChIP experiments confirm co-localization of some TFBSs genome-wide, including near the TSS, but they typically examine only a few TFs at a time, using non-physiological conditions that can vary from lab to lab. In contrast, sequence analysis can examine many TFs uniformly and methodically, broadly surveying the co-localization of TFBSs with tight positional preferences relative to the TSS.

Results

Our statistics found 43 significant sets of human motifs in the JASPAR TF Database with positional preferences relative to the TSS, with 38 preferences tight (±5 bp). Each set of motifs corresponded to a gene group of 135 to 3304 genes, with 42/43 (98%) gene groups independently validated by DAVID, a gene ontology database, with FDR < 0.05. Motifs corresponding to two TFBSs in a RM should co-occur more than by chance alone, enriching the intersection of the gene groups corresponding to the two TFs. Thus, a gene-group intersection systematically enriched beyond chance alone provides evidence that the two TFs participate in an RM. Of the 903 = 43*42/2 intersections of the 43 significant gene groups, we found 768/903 (85%) pairs of gene groups with significantly enriched intersections, with 564/768 (73%) intersections independently validated by DAVID with FDR < 0.05. A user-friendly web site athttp://go.usa.gov/3kjsHpermits biologists to explore the interaction network of our TFBSs to identify candidate subunit RMs.

Conclusions

Gene duplication and convergent evolution within a genome provide obvious biological mechanisms for replicating an RM near the TSS that binds a particular TF subunit. Of all intersections of our 43 significant gene groups, 85% were significantly enriched, with 73% of the significant enrichments independently validated by gene ontology. The co-localization of TFBSs within RMs therefore likely explains much of the tight TFBS positional preferences near the TSS.
Successful pregnancy with donor eggs in-vitro fertilization after premature ovarian insufficiency in a tertiary hospital in a low-income setting: a case report
Authors: Egbe Thomas Obinchemti , Wafo Carine Youta , Bollo Berthe Bebey , Pany Christian , Onomo Monique Jong , Sandjon Guy
Published: November 2016

Background

Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) is classically defined as 4–6 months of cessation of menses (amenorrhea) in women under 40, associated with menopausal level of serum gonadotropins FSH > 40 IU/L and hypo-estrogenism and is also referred to as hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. This disorder can manifest as primary amenorrhea without the onset of menses (menarche), or as secondary amenorrhea after menarche and pubertal development. The diagnosis of this condition in Cameroon is sometimes difficult because of the high cost of hormonal assays and the few laboratories offering these services.

Case presentation

The patient was a 38-year-old G2P0020, blood group O Rh positive, genotype AA and BMI 19 kg/m2 who came to our service because of secondary amenorrhea and infertility of 2 years’ duration. She has a history of pulmonary tuberculosis that was treated in Cameroon. After laparoscopy and hormonal profile, the diagnosis of premature ovarian insufficiency was reached. The woman underwent a successful donor egg in-vitro fertilization cycle and delivered a female fetus. Two years later YE requested IVF with autologous eggs, which was not possible, and since then she has remained with one child.

Conclusion

The diagnosis of premature ovarian insufficiency is difficult in Cameroon because of the high cost of laboratory investigations and difficult access to the tests. In-vitro fertilization with donor egg is a better treatment option. Unfortunately, it is not accessible to most Cameroonians because of lack of technical ability and the existence of cultural and financial barriers.
Hybridizing semianalytical and conventional finite-element schemes for simulations of electromagnetic borehole resistivity measurement
Authors: Chen Jiefu , Zeng Shubin
Published: November 2016

A semianalytical finite-element method (FEM) has been developed to simulate electromagnetic borehole resistivity measurements in a layered underground formation. A piecewise homogeneous structure is divided into several layers. Each layer is uniform in the longitudinal direction, and the distributions of geometry and material can be arbitrary on the transverse plane, or cross section, of the layer. To develop this semianalytical finite-element scheme, the standard functional corresponding to the vector wave equation is cast to a new form in the Hamiltonian system based on dual variables that are the transverse components of electric and magnetic fields on the cross section of the layer. The 2D finite elements are used to discretize the cross section, and a high-precision integration scheme based on the Riccati equations is used to exploit the longitudinal homogeneity in the layer. By transforming a 3D layered problem into a series of 2D problems, this semianalytical FEM can save a great amount of computational costs and meanwhile achieve a higher level of accuracy when compared with conventional finite-element schemes. The flexibility of this semianalytical method can be greatly increased by hybridization with conventional finite elements, and this strategy works well for layered structures with local inhomogeneities such as borehole washouts. Several tests, including near-bit resistivity measurement and wave propagation resistivity logging, verified the effectiveness of this semianalytical FEM.
Markers of Islet Endothelial Dysfunction Occur in Male B6.BKS(D)-Leprdb/J Mice and May Contribute to Reduced Insulin Release
Authors: Hogan Meghan F. , Liu Amy W. , Peters Michael J. , Willard Joshua R. , Rabbani Zaheen , Bartholomew Erik C. , Ottley Adam , Hull Rebecca L.
Published: November 2016

Islet endothelial cells produce paracrine factors that support β-cell function and growth. Endothelial dysfunction underlies diabetic microvascular complications; thus, we hypothesized that in diabetes, islet endothelial cells become dysfunctional, which may contribute to β-cell secretory dysfunction. Islets/islet endothelial cells were isolated from diabetic B6.BKS(D)-Leprdb/J male (db/db) mice, treated with or without the glucose-lowering agent phlorizin, or from C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet for 18 weeks and appropriate controls. Messenger RNA (mRNA) and/or the protein levels of the cell adhesion molecule E-selectin (Sele), proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (Il6), vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (Edn1), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (Nos3; Nos3) were evaluated, along with advanced glycation end product immunoreactivity. Furthermore, an islet endothelial cell line (MS-1) was exposed to diabetic factors (glucose, palmitate, insulin, and tumor necrosis factor-α) for six days. Conditioned media were collected from these cells, incubated with isolated islets, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and insulin content were assessed. Islet endothelial cells from db/db mice exhibited increased Sele, Il6, and Edn1 mRNA levels, decreased Nos3 protein, and accumulation of advanced glycation end products. Phlorizin treatment significantly increased Nos3 protein levels but did not alter expression of the other markers. High-fat feeding in C57BL/6J mice resulted in increased islet Sele, Il6, and Edn1 but no change in Nos3. Exposure of islets to conditioned media from MS-1 cells cultured in diabetic conditions resulted in a 50% decrease in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and 30% decrease in insulin content. These findings demonstrate that, in diabetes, islet endothelial cells show evidence of a dysfunctional phenotype, which may contribute to loss of β-cell function.
From the Editors
Authors: Finley Cheryl , Willis Deborah
Published: November 2016

How the black body has been imagined in the West has always been a rich site for global examination and contestation. The representation and depiction of black peoples often has been governed by prevailing attitudes about race and sexuality. How the black body is displayed and viewed changes with each generation, constantly allowing young diasporic innovators from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean to add their own ideas about reinvention and self-representation. Paris, an internationally key and highly influential Western space in all things concerning the visual arts and modernity, was the perfect stage for Black Portraiture[s]: The Black Body in the West, the fifth in the series of visual art conferences held in Paris in January 2013. The essays offered in this special issue of Nka were gathered from that historic meeting and offer the most cutting-edge perspectives on the production and skill of black self-representation, desire, and the exchange of the gaze from the nineteenth century to the present day in fashion, film, art, and the archive. Drawing on the ideas and works of leading and emerging writers of our time while including the discussions of photographers, scholars, artists, curators, and filmmakers of the African diaspora, the Black Portraiture[s] conference clearly revolved around collaboration, building upon the strengths of each of the organizing institutions as well as the curators, writers, artists, filmmakers, and photographers whose visualization of the African diaspora has guided these crucial discussions about art and representation.
Posing the Black Painter Kerry James Marshall’s Portraits of Artists’ Self-Portraits
Authors: Erickson Peter
Published: November 2016

This essay explores Kerry James Marshall’s paintings of black artists in studio settings who are often positioned at the easel with an unfinished self-portrait. The series begins with a portrait within a portrait of a historical figure—Scipio Moorehead, Portrait of Himself, 1776 (2007)—and then turns to fictional artists (2008–10). Just when the series appears to have reached an end point, Marshall surprises with his most expansive studio scene to date—Untitled (Studio)—in 2014. In no instance does Marshall portray himself as the artist inside the painting, yet we can never forget that he is the creator of the artists we see within the paintings.
Saga Bwoys and Rude Bwoys: Migration, Grooming, and Dandyism
Authors: McMillan Michael
Published: November 2016

I have been always struck by how men of my father’s generation were so well dressed in those iconic black-and-white documentary photographs depicting their arrival after a three-week transatlantic journey by sea. They wore neatly pressed suits with a white breast pocket handkerchief, polished brogue shoes, white starched shirt with throat-strangling tie, and a trilby hat cocked at an angle. In Eastern Caribbean vernacular they were saga bwoys, or sweet bwoys, masculine personas who, in my rite of passage from a short-pants “colored” boy to a black British young man, I saw as exemplars of good grooming in their sartorial attention to detail as words for the ladies danced off their tongues like Lord Kitchener’s calypso. These “lonely Londoners” would later become Jamaican rude bwoys, swaggering as if to a ska or reggae beat in their two-tone mohair suits, with the attitude and creole chat of the best-dressed chicken on the street. Saga bwoys and rude bwoys are constituents of the contemporary ragamuffin geneology of subcultural black masculine practices that have been self-fashioned in the rhizoid network of racial, transcultural, and diaspora exchange and transfer.

Yet limited focus has been given to how and what postwar Caribbean migrant men contributed to a diasporic understanding of black dandyism through the material culture and performativity of the saga bwoys and rude bwoys. Using Carol Tulloch’s “style-fashion-dress,” among other conceptual frameworks, this essay begins to explore the ontology and materiality of a process that saw the aesthetic embodiment and reconstruction of diasporic Caribbeanness in a British context of the dressed black male body—a body that would come to reconfigure the streets of urban Britain with fresh, dynamic masculinities in motion.
Portraits in Black: Styling, Space, and Self in the Work of Barkley L Hendricks and Elizabeth Colomba
Authors: Arabindan-Kesson Anna
Published: November 2016

This article explores the uses of portraiture by artists Barkley L. Hendricks and Elizabeth Colomba. First, it examines the ways both artists refigure canonical forms of the genre differently to evoke an understanding of black interiority through the stylization, fashioning, and social meanings of blackness and the body. Second, it argues that these artists directly challenge the seeming invisibility of black bodies in Western art history by reworking the linear trajectory of canonical discourses. They do not so much insert black bodies back into the Western canon as reveal where they were all along.
Ota Benga in the Archives: Unmaking Myths, Mapping Resistance in the Margins of History
Authors: Newkirk Pamela
Published: November 2016

A century after Ota Benga was exhibited in the Bronx Zoo Monkey House, the episode has been widely distorted by omission, half-truths, or outright deception. Not only has Benga’s captor, the self-described American explorer Samuel Verner, been widely depicted as his friend and savior, but his true saviors have languished in obscurity. Fortunately, the true story of Ota Benga’s tragic sojourn from the Congo to the United States can be reconstructed by returning to hundreds of documents stored in numerous archives across the United States.
Bust Brawl: The Battle over a Black Bronze Prince
Authors: Demissie Yemane I.
Published: November 2016

“Bust Brawl: the Battle over a Black Bronze Prince” examines the tug-of-war between the Right Honorable General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby, the Privy Purse and private secretary to Queen Victoria, and John Throp, a sculptor and marble mason based in Leeds, over the creation of the deceased Crown Prince Alemayehu of Ethiopia’s bust soon after his untimely death at age eighteen on November 1879 in Leeds. The article is based on the correspondence between and among Sir Henry Ponsonby; John Throp; Sir Stafford Northcote, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; Francis John Williamson, Queen Victoria’s favorite sculptor; and Professor Cyril Ransome, Prince Alemayehu’s private tutor. It is part of a larger book and documentary/narrative film project written and directed by Yemane I. Demissie.
Reclaiming History: A Visual Essay
Authors: Colomba Elizabeth
Published: November 2016

Being of Martinique descent but born and raised in France has shaped and influenced my perception of my self-identity. This dual background has pushed me to explore the totality of social experience and fuse my two worlds in my work. While acknowledging the past, I wish to reshape the narratives and bend an association of ideas so that a black individual in a period setting is no longer synonymous with slave subservience and, by extension, does not instill fear or mistrust. She becomes the center of her own tale and hastens it forward. Creating pieces that simulate Old Masters’ techniques while incorporating Western themes implies a precontemporary creation, an egalitarian existence in a story from which the black body is painfully absent. When a work of art depicts a figure (mythical, biblical, allegorical) the narrative is identified with the help of pictorial codes. Eros would be recognized by his arrows, Psyche is associated with the butterfly, and so forth. Thus, skin color no longer dictates the story of the protagonist but transcends it. The viewer no longer ponders status; rather, representation and iconography take center stage. By generating an environment for my subjects to inhabit a space that honors their presence and place in and through culture and time allows me to redefine not only how black people have been conditioned to exist, but also how black people have been conditioned to reflect upon themselves.
Black Presence in France
Authors: Watts Lewis
Published: November 2016

In January 2013, I came to Paris for the first time in forty years to present work at the first Black Portraiture[s] conference. I had planned to photograph there but had no agenda. My interest was piqued on the train from Charles de Gaulle airport, when five young black men in hoodies and backward baseball caps got on. I was immediately drawn to the critical mass of people of color in Paris, as well as the constant visual reference to African American music and culture that was present on the street. I began photographing and building up a network of contacts in France that began at the conference. I’ve had the opportunity to return multiple times, and I have since exhibited and published in France. In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo incidents, the refugee crisis, and the changing demographics in France and other parts of Europe, this investigation has taken on a wide range of complexities. French hip-hop is the second-largest-selling in its genre in the world, and it is not surprising that it has resonated with young immigrant populations. There is a vital jazz scene in France but also a growing specter of racism. I am interested in recording the ways in which black bodies exist in the world, and this project continues to be a stimulating and challenging one for me.
“Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas” e a representação crítica do processo de modernização tecnológica brasileira
Authors: Del Rio Araújo Bárbara , Ribeiro Débora , Franco Barbosa Mariana
Published: November 2016

O trabalho busca analisar o procedimento estético do livro Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas, publicado em 1881 por Machado de Assis, evidenciando, através do conceito de “redução estrutural”, o processo da modernização e inserção tecnológica brasileira. Tal processo pode ser explicado pela própria configuração histórica nacional, sobretudo a dinâmica da sociedade do século XIX, pautada nas relações de favor, interesse e aparência. Constatou-se que a literatura machadiana, como um fenômeno cultural brasileiro, proporcionou, através do objeto estético, o conhecimento da realidade e as suas possibilidades de transformação.
Liberdade e interesse bem compreendido no pensamento político de Alexis de Tocqueville
Authors: Cruz de Castro Lima Sérgio
Published: November 2016

Este artigo busca analisar o pensamento político de Tocqueville acerca dos termos liberdade e interesse bem compreendido, destacando como as ideias tocquevilleanas enfatizam a importância da participação política. Tal aspecto o aproxima do republicanismo, o qual mobiliza a importância da dignidade da política, da liberdade como atuação na esfera pública e da igualdade. Tocqueville acredita que a paixão irrefletida pela igualdade em detrimento da liberdade poderia resultar em despotismo democrático. O pensamento político tocquevilleano almeja salvaguardar as formações sociais de uma possível tirania que corromperia os valores republicanos e a democracia.
Força africana, força divina: trânsitos entre África e Brasil através da figura umbandista dos pretos-velhos
Authors: Lima Rezende Lívia
Published: November 2016

Tendo como base os conceitos de práticas e representações de Roger Chartier, propõe-se uma análise de elementos característicos das figuras umbandistas dos pretos-velhos à luz de aspectos da cultura e sociedade dos grupos bantu – povos de distintas etnias que habitavam a região da África Central e compartilhavam, além do mesmo tronco linguístico, alguns elementos culturais, religiosos e institucionais. O estudo permitiu que fossem percebidos vários pontos de aproximação entre esses grupos centro-africanos e os pretos-velhos, extrapolando, em determinados momentos o aspecto das entidades e chegando a encontrar semelhanças com a prática umbandista como um todo.
Apresentação
Authors: Nunes Helen
Published: November 2016

Edição 10
Amores iguais: um olhar sobre a homoafetividade nas narrativas de Cíntia Moscovich
Authors: Nunes Almeida Ana Luiza
Published: November 2016

A literatura não pode resolver os problemas que acontecem fora do seu discurso e se entende que não seja esse o seu papel; entretanto, ela pode contribuir para uma crítica e ressignificação dos papeis de gênero, preenchendo omissões através de diferentes escolhas de parte de quem escreve, possibilitando um entendimento diferente daquele que é tradicionalmente explorado no espaço literário. O relacionamento homoafetivo feminino ainda não consegue ser posto em discurso em sua plenitude, resultando em discursos fragmentados e, muitas vezes, ambíguos. Nesse sentido, se busca analisar as narrativas construídas por Cíntia Moscovich, levando em consideração a atenção dada ao lesbianismo.
Ditadura civil-militar no Brasil e a ordem de gênero: masculinidades e feminilidades vigiadas
Authors: De Freitas Silva Natanael
Published: November 2016

O objetivo deste texto é refletir sobre algumas práticas censórias em torno de determinadas performances de gênero consideradas subversivas pelos defensores da “moral e dos bons costumes” durante o período da ditadura civil-militar brasileira.  E para isso, apresento uma breve discussão historiográfica em torno da questão de gênero e sexualidade na historiografia sobre esse período, em seguida, menciono alguns exemplos dessas práticas e, por fim, concluo que as noções de masculinidade e feminilidade são constructos social e culturalmente forjados, rizomáticos, relacionais, interdependentes e de múltipla definição. Por isso, o caráter histórico, datado e político do gênero.
“Foi difícil, mas sempre falo que nós somos guerreiras” – O movimento das trabalhadoras domésticas entre a marginalidade e o empoderamento
Authors: Acciari Louisa
Published: November 2016

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as divergências de percepção sobre o emprego doméstico entre domésticas sindicalistas e domésticas não sindicalizadas. A partir de entrevistas qualitativas e observações participantes nos sindicatos locais de São Paulo, Campinas e Rio de Janeiro, este artigo explora em particular a maneira com a qual as trabalhadoras domésticas articulam as dimensões de gênero, raça e classe. Sugere que existe um “efeito sindical”, processo através do qual militantes modificam sua percepção de si mesmos e da categoria e conseguem transformar elementos de opressão em luta coletiva.
Poder e igualdade de gênero: Políticas de cotas para mulheres nos países da América Latina
Authors: Lopes Campos Barbara , Novais Tolledo Luisa
Published: November 2016

O presente artigo tem o objetivo de analisar as políticas de cotas para mulheres, em cargos do poder legislativo, desenvolvidas na América Latina. O método utilizado ao longo de nosso estudo contou com a análise de documentos oficiais de países da região que nos revelam quais tipos de políticas foram desenvolvidas nos últimos anos e os respectivos impactos no processo de empoderamento das mulheres, perante a existência de desigualdades de gênero, tais políticas conseguiram obter. O estudo em questão pretende contribuir para o entendimento dos avanços conquistados no âmbito de políticas públicas na América Latina, no que diz respeito às questões de gênero.
Políticas culturais em museus: Panoramas e perspectivas do cenário brasileiro
Authors: Ferrari Mélodi
Published: November 2016

O artigo proposto apresenta um breve resumo histórico das políticas culturais implementadas no Brasil, buscando compreender como elas influenciaram no campo museal. Além disso, com vista no cenário atual, analisa-se uma proposta de atuação baseada no modelo americano de gestão de instituições culturais que possa ser implantada visando a ampliação do conceito de museus como instituição formadora da identidade cultural brasileira, em toda sua pluralidade.
Direitos e deveres das “blusas verdes” na Ação Integralista Brasileira: “A mulher tem deveres do seu sexo e direitos da sua vocação”
Authors: Andrade Ferreira Helisangela Maria
Published: November 2016

O presente artigo analisa a participação das mulheres pernambucanas no movimento integralista na década de 1930. Através da documentação presente no Departamento de Ordem Política e Social foi possível reconstruir esse imaginário integralista em relação a participação feminina. Foi um movimento que atrelava as mulheres as questões ligadas a natureza feminina estando o marido, a casa e os filhos como sendo dever apenas feminino. Dessa maneira as mulheres fizeram parte de um movimento político assumindo que o lar era o local mais apropriado para que elas pudessem contribuir no futuro do país.
Indication of recent warming process at the intermediate level in the Tyrrhenian Sea from SOOP XBT measurements
Authors: RIBOTTI A. , SORGENTE R. , OLITA A. , ORILIA F. , BORGHINI M. , RESEGHETTI F.
Published: November 2016

The Tyrrhenian Sea is a sub-basin of the western Mediterranean crossed by intermediate and deep waters from the eastern basin. Across this sub-basin, temperature profiles of the water column from expendable bathythermographs (XBT) have been acquired for sixteen years along transects realized thanks to the use of commercial vessels. Since 1999 an increase of temperature has been observed at intermediate depths even if interspersed with periods of decrease. This increase involves deeper and deeper depths along the years then involving the whole sub-basin in the range 200-800 m in September 2014 when largest anomalies over the whole period are found. The paper shows evidences of this rapid heating, giving insights into the origin and the diffusion of the warmer intermediate waters then showing its evolution in years and its relationship with the Eastern Mediterranean Transient.
Bryozoa from the Mediterranean coast of Israel
Authors: SOKOLOVER N. , TAYLOR P. D. , ILAN M.
Published: November 2016

The impact of global warming on the composition of marine biotas is increasing, underscoring the need for better baseline information on the species currently present in given areas. Little is known about the bryozoan fauna of Israel; the most recent publication concerning species from the Mediterranean coast was based on samples collected in the 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, not only have the species present in this region changed, but so too has our understanding of bryozoan taxonomy. Here we use samples collected during the last decade to identify 47 bryozoan species, of which 15 are first records for the Levantine basin. These include one new genus and species (Crenulatella levantinensis gen. et. sp. nov.), two new species (Licornia vieirai sp. nov. and Trematooecia mikeli sp. nov.), and two species that may be new but for which available material is inadequate for formal description (Reteporella sp. and Thalamoporella sp.). In addition, Conopeum ponticum is recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea. Non-indigenous species make up almost one-quarter of the 47 species identified. All of the non-indigenous species are native to tropical and subtropical regions, implying a change of the Levant bryozoan biota from a temperate to a more tropical state, probably related to both higher temperature and salinity and to the opening of the Suez Canal connecting the Red Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Annotated checklist of marine Algerian Crustacean Decapods
Authors: GRIMES S. , BAKALEM A. , DAUVIN J.C.
Published: November 2016

Sampling surveys (1976-2013) of soft-bottom communities and some hard bottom communities along the Algerian coast (1,180 km) have allowed the collection of 114 species of crustacean decapods of which of 37 were reported for the first time for the Algerian decapods fauna; for these species additional comments concerning their ecological and geographical patterns are given. The inventory of all benthic and pelagic decapods recorded along the Algerian coast reaches 253 species. Three families on a total of 57 families were highly diversified: Paguridae (17 species), Polybiidae (16 species) and Processidae (13 species). The presence of the 253 recorded species along the Algerian coast has been compared with eight other areas from the Mediterranean Sea. The decapods fauna of the Algerian coast is among the most richest of the Mediterranean Sea and comparable of that of Italy.
High xenodiversity versus low native diversity in the south-eastern Mediterranean: bryozoans from the coastal zone of Lebanon
Authors: HARMELIN J. G. , BITAR G. , ZIBROWIUS H.
Published: November 2016

Because of its location in the warmest corner of the Mediterranean, its proximity to the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, i.e. the gateway for massive exotic biota introduction into the Mediterranean, the occurrence of high shipping activity and strong human pressure, the Lebanese coastal zone is an area that is exceptionally well-suited for investigating the effects of these extreme conditions on Mediterranean biodiversity. Bryozoans, which are among the main components of sessile communities, reflect dramatically the impact of these particular conditions. Their assemblages, sampled by diving along the whole coast of Lebanon during a pluriannual programme, mainly between 1999 and 2003, consist of 93 species (12 Cyclostomata, 2 Ctenostomata, 79 Cheilostomata). The native part of this bryozoan fauna exhibits low diversity, with an unexpected absence of many taxa, from family to species level, which are very common in the rest of the Mediterranean. It is also characterized by a high proportion of endemic species, in contrast with the general eastward trend of decreasing endemicity observed in the Mediterranean, and by the strong presence of 'southern' thermophilic species. With 27 non-indigenous species, xenodiversity is exceptionally high, particularly in the cheilostome pool (26 species), but was likely undersampled. Moreover, one may assume that new non-indigenous bryozoans (NIB) are now established along the Levantine coasts. This trend is expected to increase in the near future with the intensification of surface water warming and boost of shipping activity and propagule flux generated by the expansion of the Suez Canal.
A Mediterranean record of Eulalia ornata (Annelida: Phyllodocidae) corroborating its fidelity link with the Sabellaria alveolata-reef habitat
Authors: SCHIMMENTI E. , MUSCO L. , LO BRUTTO S. , MIKAC B. , NYGREN A. , BADALAMENTI F.
Published: November 2016

Among marine habitats Sabellaria alveolata-reefs deserve protection since they provide important ecosystem services and positive effects on biodiversity. Several marine species are listed among the S. alveolata-reef associated fauna, but characteristic species were seldom reported. Eulalia ornata (Annelida, Phyllodocidae) might represent an exception, since it appears common/abundant in S. alveolata-reefs of the Eastern Atlantic. The most evident geographical mismatch in the distributions of E. ornata and these biogenic reefs occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, where S. alveolata-reefs are commonly found, but E. ornata was never recorded, whilst E. viridis, a non-Mediterranean species, was previously listed among the dominant reef-associated taxa. The faunal characterization of the sabellarid reefs along the Sicily Channel revealed an Eulalia species as the dominant taxon associated with that habitat in the area. A taxonomic approach integrated with DNA barcoding, and comparisons with closely related species, allow us to report E. ornata as a new record for the Mediterranean Sea. We describe patterns of abundance and distribution and corroborate its status as a preferential species in the S. alveolata-reef habitat. Focusing on the biology and ecology of E. ornata could help us to better understand the dynamics and functioning of this valuable European shallow marine habitat.
Meta-analysis review of fish trophic level at marine protected areas based on stable isotopes data
Authors: De LOPE ARIAS J. J. , MATEU-VICENS G. , DEUDERO COMPANY M.
Published: November 2016

Stable isotopes (δ15N) are used to determine trophic level in marine food webs. We assessed if Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) affect trophic level of fishes based on stable isotopes on the Western Mediterranean. A total of 22 studies including 600 observations were found and the final dataset consisted of 11 fish species and 146 observations comparing trophic level inside and outside MPAs. The database was analysed by meta-analysis and the covariate selected was the level of protection (inside vs. outside MPAs). The results indicate significant difference between trophic levels inside and outside MPAs. However, results differ from expectations since the trophic level inside was lower than outside MPAs. Three habitats were analysed (coastal lagoons, demersal and littoral) and significant differences were found among them. Trophic level was higher in demersal habitats than in coastal lagoons and littoral areas. No significant differences were found in species classified by trophic functional groups. We consider several hypotheses explaining the obtained results linked to protection level of the MPAs, time since protection and MPAs size. We debate the suitability of using the stable isotope (δ15N) as direct indicator of trophic level in evaluating MPAs effects on food webs.