bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genome size variation at constant chromosome number is not correlated with repetitive DNA dynamism in Anacyclus (Asteraceae)
Authors: Vitales Daniel , Álvarez Inés , Garcia Sònia , Hidalgo Oriane , Nieto Feliner Gonzalo , Pellicer Jaume , Vallès Joan , Garnatje Teresa
Published: November 2019

Background and Aims

Changes in the amount of repetitive DNA (dispersed and tandem repeats) are considered the main contributors to genome size variation across plant species in the absence of polyploidy. However, the study of repeatome dynamism in groups showing contrasting genomic features and complex evolutionary histories is needed to determine whether other processes underlying genome size variation may have been overlooked. The main aim here was to elucidate which mechanism best explains genome size evolution in Anacyclus (Asteraceae).

Methods

Using data from Illumina sequencing, we analysed the repetitive DNA in all species of Anacyclus, a genus with a reticulate evolutionary history, which displays significant genome size and karyotype diversity albeit presenting a stable chromosome number.

Key Results

By reconstructing ancestral genome size values, we inferred independent episodes of genome size expansions and contractions during the evolution of the genus. However, analysis of the repeatome revealed a similar DNA repeat composition across species, both qualitative and quantitative. Using comparative methods to study repeatome dynamics in the genus, we found no evidence for repeat activity causing genome size variation among species.

Conclusions

Our results, combined with previous cytogenetic data, suggest that genome size differences in Anacyclus are probably related to chromosome rearrangements involving losses or gains of chromosome fragments, possibly associated with homoploid hybridization. These could represent balanced rearrangements that do not disrupt gene dosage in merged genomes, for example via chromosome segment exchanges.
DiscoRhythm: an easy-to-use web application and R package for discovering rhythmicity
Authors: Carlucci Matthew , Kriščiūnas Algimantas , Li Haohan , Gibas Povilas , Koncevičius Karolis , Petronis Art , Oh Gabriel
Published: November 2019

Motivation

Biological rhythmicity is fundamental to almost all organisms on Earth and plays a key role in health and disease. Identification of oscillating signals could lead to novel biological insights, yet its investigation is impeded by the extensive computational and statistical knowledge required to perform such analysis.

Results

To address this issue, we present DiscoRhythm (Discovering Rhythmicity), a user-friendly application for characterizing rhythmicity in temporal biological data. DiscoRhythm is available as a web application or an R/Bioconductor package for estimating phase, amplitude and statistical significance using four popular approaches to rhythm detection (Cosinor, JTK Cycle, ARSER and Lomb-Scargle). We optimized these algorithms for speed, improving their execution times up to 30-fold to enable rapid analysis of -omic-scale datasets in real-time. Informative visualizations, interactive modules for quality control, dimensionality reduction, periodicity profiling and incorporation of experimental replicates make DiscoRhythm a thorough toolkit for analyzing rhythmicity.

Availability and implementation

The DiscoRhythm R package is available on Bioconductor (https://bioconductor.org/packages/DiscoRhythm), with source code available on GitHub (https://github.com/matthewcarlucci/DiscoRhythm) under a GPL-3 license. The web application is securely deployed over HTTPS (https://disco.camh.ca) and is freely available for use worldwide. Local instances of the DiscoRhythm web application can be created using the R package or by deploying the publicly available Docker container (https://hub.docker.com/r/mcarlucci/discorhythm).

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Screening for atrial fibrillation: a call for evidence
Authors: Jones Nicholas R , Taylor Clare J , Hobbs F D Richard , Bowman Louise , Casadei Barbara
Published: November 2019

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and prevalence is predicted to double over the next 30 years due to changing demographics and the rise in prevalence of risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes. Atrial fibrillation is associated with a five-fold increased stroke risk, but anticoagulation in eligible patients can reduce this risk by around 65%. Many people with AF currently go undetected and therefore untreated, either because they are asymptomatic or because they have paroxysmal AF. Screening has been suggested as one approach to increase AF detection rates and reduce the incidence of ischaemic stroke by earlier initiation of anticoagulation therapy. However, international taskforces currently recommend against screening, citing the cost implications and uncertainty over the benefits of a systematic screening programme compared to usual care. A number of large randomized controlled trials have commenced to determine the cost-effectiveness and clinical benefit of screening using a range of devices and across different populations. The recent AppleWatch study demonstrates how advances in technology are providing the public with self-screening devices that are increasingly affordable and accessible. Health care professionals should be aware of the implications of these emerging data for diagnostic pathways and treatment. This review provides an overview of the gaps in the current evidence and a summary of the arguments for and against screening.
Gardnerella and vaginal health: the truth is out there
Authors: Rosca Aliona S , Castro Joana , Sousa Lúcia G V , Cerca Nuno
Published: November 2019

The human vagina is a dynamic ecosystem in which homeostasis depends on mutually beneficial interactions between the host and their microorganisms. However, the vaginal ecosystem can be thrown off balance by a wide variety of factors. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in women of childbearing age but its etiology is not yet fully understood, with different controversial theories being raised over the years. What is generally accepted is that BV is often characterized by a shift in the composition of the normal vaginal microbiota, from a Lactobacillus species dominated microbiota to a mixture of anaerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria. During BV, a polymicrobial biofilm develops in the vaginal microenvironment, being mainly composed of Gardnerella species. The interactions between vaginal microorganisms are thought to play a pivotal role in the shift from health to disease and might also increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections acquisition. Here, we review the current knowledge regarding the specific interactions that occur in the vaginal niche and discuss mechanisms by which these interactions might be mediated. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of novel strategies to fight chronic vaginal infections.
Reimagining Trade-Plus Compliance: The Labor Story
Authors: Claussen Kathleen
Published: November 2019

Trade agreements today are omnibus instruments characterized by extensive commitments in areas referred to as ‘trade-plus’ because they expand the traditional notion of trade. This Article offers an original challenge to the jumbled consensus that including trade-plus provisions in trade agreements and treating them like ‘ordinary’ trade issues subject to dispute settlement is all positive. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the outcome of the USA–Guatemala labor case under the US trade agreement with the Central American states. The Article critically considers for the first time the broader implications of the USA–Guatemala case for the framing of the system and concludes that the trade dispute settlement system is not well suited for these types of questions in its present iteration. In so doing, the Article seeks to draw attention to the disparity in theory and design in free trade agreements and to make some critical policy recommendations for the ongoing debate about the content and structure of trade agreements in the USA and beyond.
Narratively Shaped Emotions: The Case of Borderline Personality Disorder
Authors: Bortolan Anna
Published: November 2019

In this article, I provide a phenomenological exploration of the role played by narrativity in shaping affective experience. I start by surveying and identifying different ways in which linguistic and narrative expression contribute to structure and regulate emotions, and I then expand on these insights by taking into consideration the phenomenology of borderline personality disorder. Disruptions of narrative abilities have been shown to be central to the illness, and I argue that these disruptions are at the origin of a number of alterations of affective experience. In particular, I suggest that due to the narrative “fragmentation” characteristic of the disorder, the emotions experienced by borderline patients can be less differentiated and have a predominantly bodily and unregulated character.
Alternative Pathways to Certification
Authors: Goodrich Andrew
Published: November 2019

This chapter explores the literature on alternative pathways to teacher certification to provide a context for understanding how and why these programs developed and their potential impact on traditional pathways to licensure. A discussion of the different types of alternative certification programs, including graduate-level teacher certification programs, certificate-only programs, and non-university certification programs (NUCPs), provides a basis for understanding how preservice music teachers are certified in these programs. These include recruitment, implementation of curricula, and often limited preservice music teacher preparation prior to teaching. This chapter concludes with a discussion of how music teacher educators can continue to lead the profession with adapting existing traditional pathways to accommodate a wide range of teacher candidates from a diverse array of personal, musical, and professional backgrounds to help prepare them for a multitude of music teaching scenarios in an ever-changing educational landscape.
Developing Effective Dispositions for Teaching Music
Authors: Raiber Michael
Published: November 2019

The impact of teacher dispositions on the professional development of preservice music teachers (PMTs) has been substantiated. This chapter describes an approach to dispositional development within the structure of an introduction to music education course. A teacher concerns model is used to organize this systematic approach through three developmental stages that include self-concerns, teaching task concerns, and student learning concerns. A series of 11 critical questions are presented for use in guiding PMTs’ dispositional development through these developmental stages. Activities to engage PMTs in the exploration of each of these questions are detailed for use by music teacher educators desiring to engage PMTs in dispositional development.
Field Experience
Authors: Powell Sean Robert
Published: November 2019

This chapter presents an overview of preservice field experiences in music teacher education. Field experience, also termed fieldwork, early field experience, clinical practice, clinical teaching, extern teaching, or practicum, refers to teaching and/or observation experiences undertaken by preservice teachers within P-12 classrooms or other off-campus settings as part of curricula leading to teacher certification prior to the student teaching semester. Field experience is a common curricular requirement or standard among university teacher education programs, state departments of education, and higher education accrediting agencies. The chapter examines current practices and addresses potential benefits and problems associated with various field experience arrangements. Finally, it explores innovative approaches to field experience, poses questions for consideration, and suggests implications for practice and research.
General Music in Middle School and High School
Authors: Bucura Elizabeth
Published: November 2019

This chapter provides an overview of secondary general music (SGM), including background, variations of courses, and curricular considerations. The chapter details goals for SGM courses and provides an overview of common characteristics among adolescents who are SGM students, preservice music teachers, and in-service teachers. It emphasizes the value of learner autonomy and ownership through frameworks of community music and informal learning and recommends a balance of pedagogical and andragogical teaching approaches. The chapter describes ways in which SGM teachers and teacher educators might conceptualize roles and challenges of teaching general music for middle and high school students, including topics such as music technology and popular music, considerations for special learners, and methods course fieldwork.
The Mountain Lake Colloquium and the Mountain Lake Reader
Authors: Barrett Janet R. , Persellin Diane , Robbins Janet , Stauffer Sandra L.
Published: November 2019

The Mountain Lake Colloquium, a biennial conference held since 1991 in Virginia, has become a robust and dynamic site for the professional learning of music teacher educators. The colloquium aspires to serve as a welcoming space for new colleagues, a seedbed of ideas, a forum for dialogue, a venue for disseminating scholarship, and a community of practice. This chapter captures the dimensions of the scholarship, practice, conversation, inquiry, reflection, and collegiality that have come to characterize participation in this community. It also describes the parallel creation and publication of six issues of the Mountain Lake Reader, a journal for disseminating related examples of practice and scholarly essays in artistic forms. The playful and polyvocal qualities of experience integral to the colloquium may inspire those interested in the professional development of music teacher educators and colleagues who are on the search to integrate scholarship and practice more fully and imaginatively.
Debating Imperial Violence and the Production of Sexualities
Authors: Stevens Jacqueline , Chaudhry V Varun
Published: November 2019

This chapter reviews scholarly controversies about responses to state violence targeting people for their sexual orientation or sex identities (SOSI) in a global perspective. It describes the emergence of legal strategies in the United States and Europe in the 1970s to 1990s to counter SOSI discrimination, as well as the responses to the use of these strategies in postcolonial African countries and nation-states created in the aftermath of the Ottoman, British, and French Empires, as well as in revolutionary Iran. The chapter analyzes the scholarship on anti-SOSI backlashes tied to critiques of US and European imperialism and militarism. Campaigns for SOSI inclusion in the heteronormative, reproductive nation-state are distinguished from queer agendas attacking the nation-state. The chapter concludes by raising questions about whether authors who attack liberal or queer anti-nationalist politics in Muslim or postcolonial contexts are tacitly or overtly supporting nationalist agendas and failing to provide remedies to restrain violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or sexed identities.
Social Network Effects in Developing Countries
Authors: Cruz Cesi , Larreguy Horacio , Marshall John
Published: November 2019

How do social networks influence and moderate electoral persuasion in developing countries? An extensive literature shows that social networks are important for understanding electoral persuasion in established democracies. At the same time, these theories might not necessarily apply to democracies in the developing world, particularly when they are characterized by clientelism, coercion, and other modes of political engagement outside of formal democratic institutions. In such contexts, networks can matter for politics in different, and sometimes unexpected, ways. In surveying the literature, this chapter dentifies three general functions of networks that are important for understanding electoral persuasion behavior in developing countries: (i) information diffusion; (ii) social persuasion; and (iii) coordination and enforcement. The chapter explores the implications of these network mechanisms by exploring the roles of both voter and politician networks.
Party Nominations and Electoral Persuasion
Authors: Sinclair J. Andrew
Published: November 2019

US nominating institutions do not always seem to work as the conventional wisdom suggests they should. This chapter explores the intellectual puzzles of the US primary election literature, connects them to a broader comparative literature on nominations, and examines recent differences between the United States and United Kingdom. The expected relationship between institutional design and political outcomes is complicated by the environments for electoral persuasion. The chapter proposes that some recent innovations, such as California’s “top-two” procedure, provide a potentially fruitful area of research for scholars to investigate the interaction between party nominations and electoral persuasion.
All By Myself
Authors: Abate Michelle Ann
Published: November 2019

This chapter challenges the long-standing exclusion of single-panel comics from being seen as comics because they do not contain what is commonly regarded as a core feature of the genre: images arranged in a sequence. Accordingly, it offers not merely a defense of but what might even be called a manifesto for single-panel comics as comics. Titles belonging to this category have played an important role in the origins, evolution, and popularization of the genre in the United States. They have embodied some of the most successful and acclaimed works in the history of the medium. In many respects, sequential art as we know it would not be the same without comics that consist of only one panel. Accordingly, this chapter moves single-panel comics back into the genre where they belong. Single-panel comics are not simply comics; they are often examples of the medium at its most concentrated, controlled, and efficient.
Building Effective Clusters and Industrial Parks
Authors: Zhang Xiaobo
Published: November 2019

This chapter discusses some of the strategies that are commonly used to build effective clusters and industrial parks. Industrial districts (clusters) offer three major advantages: better access to suppliers and markets, labour market pooling, and spillovers of technological know-how. Compared to the central government, local governments are in a better position to identify and solve the bottlenecks that affect clusters and industrial parks, mainly because of their informational advantage. The chapter first provides an overview of clusters and industrial parks before analysing the experiences of—and the lessons learned by—developing countries such as China in building them. Four strategies to increase the chances of success of a cluster and industrial park are highlighted: targeting international firms, targeting grouped businesses, incentivizing first movers, and adopting a step-by-step approach. The chapter also considers a number of reasons why clusters and industrial parks failed in countries like India, Egypt, and Senegal.
Measuring Structural Change
Authors: Monga Célestin , Standaert Samuel
Published: November 2019

This chapter examines the specific problems that arise when creating an index of structural change and development, and offers recommendations to address them. It first considers the four steps to composing a policy index and an outcome index: define what the index is trying to measure; identify suitable indicators that track (parts of) the definition decided upon in the first step; normalize the individual indicators and aggregate them into the final index; and analyse the index and report on the results. The chapter then discusses traditional approaches to measuring structural transformation, along with their shortcomings, before introducing a new approach. Insights from New Structural Economics are highlighted, including the argument that the desired structural characteristics of countries are determined by their comparative advantage, which in turn depends on their level of development.
Transforming Traditional Agriculture Redux
Authors: Pardey Philip G. , Alston Julian M.
Published: November 2019

In Transforming Traditional Agriculture T.W. Schultz (1964), envisioned a crucial role for investments in ‘nontraditional’ inputs such as knowledge and education, and improvements in the quality of material inputs and people, to help shift agriculture to a firmer footing and capitalize on agriculture as an engine of economic growth. However, the patterns of agricultural change over the subsequent half century have been uneven. Around the world today can be found countries at every stage of the transition that is now largely complete in the high-income countries. Global agricultural production has been dominated for a long time by a short (but changing) list of relatively large and populous countries. In 2011–13, just ten countries accounted for 55.7 per cent of the world’s cropland. The bulk of global crop production takes place in the temperate north (62.9 per cent). Supply side factors affect the location of production, but demand matters too. Food commodities are predominantly produced close to where they will be consumed. Consequently, calories produced from staple crops as a share of each country’s calories produced from all crops has a visibly negative relationship with average per capita income—an Engel effect on the national agricultural output mix.
Growth and Structural Transformation in Viet Nam
Authors: Thi Thu Hoai Dang , Tarp Finn , van Seventer Dirk
Published: November 2019

This chapter examines structural transformation and change in the Vietnamese economy during the reform period of 2000–12. Using two Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs), one for the year 2000 and another for the year 2012, the chapter shows that Viet Nam’s economic structure underwent significant changes during this period, mainly due to external demand and international economic integration. Indeed, the Vietnamese economy has become internally more integrated and shifted from primary production (agriculture) towards more value adding manufacturing activities. Viet Nam’s experience with structural transformation provides important lessons on how success can be pursued under globalization. The chapter concludes with some policy recommendations, such as the need for Viet Nam to transform the economic growth model toward a more sustainable one which does not rely so much on expanding capital and labour.
Ethiopia
Authors: Oqubay Arkebe
Published: November 2019

The recent ‘African Rising’ narrative is detached from reality, and lacks the perspective that growth should be underpinned by structural transformation. Ethiopia has sustained rapid economic growth since 2003, and has practised industrial policies to achieve structural transformation. Embedded in structural transformation perspectives and based on a comparative review of three export-oriented and import-substitution industries, this chapter discusses Ethiopia’s experiment with structural transformation or industrial policies. The Ethiopian experiment shows that structural transformation and industrial policies can work and thrive in low-income African countries such as Ethiopia. However, it also shows that structural transformation and catch-up are a colossal challenge. The Ethiopian experiment reveals that industrial policies matter, and the state can and should play an activist developmental role to foster catch-up and structural transformation. Furthermore, performance and policy outcomes have been uneven, highlighting the importance for policy makers to have a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and interaction among industrial structure, maximization of linkage effects, and politics/political economy. The experiment emphasizes policy learning, the vital role of learning-by-doing as the prime means of mastering policy making, and policy independence as key ingredient. The Ethiopian experiment suggests that structural transformation and industrial policy perspectives are the principal point of departure for a catch-up by African countries.
Changing Income Inequality During Structural Transformation
Authors: Timmer C. Peter
Published: November 2019

This chapter examines the mutual, two-way dependence of structural transformation and food security. It begins with a discussion of analytical perspectives and policy approaches since 1950, focusing on agricultural development and food price stability as the underlying foundations to both structural transformation and food security. It then considers structural transformation in historical perspective, the link between agricultural productivity and structural transformation, and policy challenges that arise along the path of structural transformation. In particular, it analyses the growing gap between labour productivity in rural and urban areas as rapid industrialization takes place, giving rise to widening rural–urban income gaps. The chapter also explains how Asian countries differ from their non-Asian counterparts in the pattern of agricultural employment change with respect to per capita incomes before assessing a market-oriented approach to economic growth and structural transformation, and a stabilization approach to policy initiatives that prevent sharp price increases in staple foods.
Structural Transformation
Authors: Ketels Christian
Published: November 2019

This chapter examines the relationship between competitiveness and structural transformation. It first provides an overview of the similarities and complementarities that link the competitiveness approach with the new literature on structural transformation, along with the differences between them, before discussing the role of competitiveness in economic development. The focus is on competitiveness as defined by the productivity-based view, along with drivers of competitiveness, the goals and motivations for economic policy aimed at improving competitiveness, and the new structural economics that offers a novel set of recommendations for how economies can speed up the process of structural transformation. The chapter identifies an integrated view that captures both the role of competitiveness fundamentals and industrial composition in driving productivity and prosperity outcomes.
Financial Reforms, Financial Development, and Structural Change
Authors: Kharroubi Enisse , Pereira da Silva Luiz A.
Published: November 2019

This chapter explores the interrelationships between financial reforms, financial development, and structural change. More specifically, it considers the impact of financial reform on changes in labour productivity and whether liberalizing the functioning of the financial sector and lifting a number of regulations through financial reforms affect structural change and growth. In this chapter, structural change is defined as the contribution of labour reallocation across sectors to aggregate productivity growth and the difference-in-difference methodology is used to compare the evolution of productivity growth—and its different sources including structural change—before and after a financial reform. This evolution is also contrasted with cases in which financial reform is absent. Drawing on a sample of advanced and emerging market economies, the chapter shows that labour productivity accelerates following periods of intense financial reforms. The results generally suggest that financial reforms positively affect productivity growth, in part through the contribution of structural change.
CSR and Environmental Law
Authors: Sheehy Benedict
Published: November 2019

A relationship between CSR and environmental law is intuitive; however, the nature, substantive content, and boundaries of the relationship remain unclear. This chapter explicates the relationship by examining the elements and ideas that shape it. It first considers the scope of CSR as a type of international private law, arguing that CSR does encompass environmental liabilities. It next reviews the earlier corporate environmentalism movement and its impact on CSR and environmental regulation. The chapter moves to consider the nature and scope of environmental law as primarily a domestic regulatory regime and what that entails as hard law. This approach is then contrasted with CSR’s international soft law focus and corollary regulatory approach of standards and reporting. After a discussion of the three main environmental principles—polluter-pays, prevention, and precaution—the chapter evaluates the relationship and its trajectory.
Redefining the Strategy Field in the Age of Sustainability
Authors: Ioannou Ioannis , Hawn Olga
Published: November 2019

We examine how the strategy field is defined in the literature and find that most conceptualizations focus on financial metrics as measures of performance and only provide guidance on the strategic management of a corporation’s economic context. We then review the externalities and corporate social responsibility literatures and find that environmental and social performance is examined either in isolation or by assuming a strong form of independence from financial performance. Therefore, we identify a clear gap within the strategy field with regards to our understanding of the fundamental strategic problem in the age of sustainability. Importantly, we suggest and discuss an extended definition (i.e. a reconceptualization) of the strategy field, thus expanding its boundaries. We conclude by discussing implications for future research and practice.
Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Markets
Authors: Doh Jonathan , Husted Bryan W. , Marano Valentina
Published: November 2019

In this chapter, we explore the rise and proliferation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in emerging markets. We trace the history of CSR in emerging markets, a process that grew, in part, from criticisms of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the global economy. We then turn our attention to the principal macro- and meso-level conceptual and theoretical lenses that have been used to inform the study of CSR in emerging markets, namely, institutional theory and cross-cultural perspectives. Finally, we review firm, network, and stakeholder perspectives that have guided the study of CSR in emerging markets. We consider the literature and practical accounts that have explored CSR by developed country MNEs in emerging markets, as well as the emerging literature on CSR by emerging market firms and MNEs (EMMNEs). We conclude with our overall assessment of the current understandings of CSR in emerging markets and make recommendations for future research.
When CSR Backfires
Authors: Willness Chelsea R.
Published: November 2019

There is now a well-established literature showing that stakeholders often respond positively to organizations’ environmental and social initiatives, or corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. However, much less attention has been dedicated to determining whether and why people might also respond negatively to CSR, and the circumstances in which this is more likely to occur. For example, rampant “greenwashing” may mean that even well-intentioned and genuine CSR actions and communications are met with suspicion because this widespread misrepresentation has created a justifiably wary public. This chapter highlights research to date that suggests we should be concerned with the potential for stakeholders to respond negatively to CSR practices and communications. It concludes by offering directions for future research and important questions regarding when and why CSR may elicit unintended negative reactions from stakeholders—or “CSR backfire effects.”
Ethics Considerations in Selecting Psychotherapy Modalities and Formats
Authors: Sadler John Z.
Published: November 2019

Little discussion has appeared in the literature regarding the ethical and value considerations when clinicians select a psychotherapy modality (e.g., CBT, psychoanalytic therapy, family systems, etc.) and format (group, individual, couple, family, systems) to offer to clients before formal treatment negotiations begin. This chapter offers a virtue-ethics framework to consider these ethics and values issues in psychotherapy modality/format selection, and embeds this virtue-ethics framework in a series of seven clinical factors to consider when doing modality/format deliberations. Karl Jaspers’s principles of clinical interpretation (hermeneutics) provide an illustrative framework for the thinking process in making modality/format decisions. The interactions between the seven factors to consider in modality/format deliberations and the eight relevant clinician virtues provide for numerous, but brief, clinical examples of how the factors, the virtues, and clinical hermeneutics combine to provide for conscientious psychotherapy modality/format deliberations.
Dual and Multiple Relationships in Psychotherapy
Authors: Doyle Kevin S.
Published: November 2019

Maintaining appropriate boundaries with clients/patients is a fundamental ethical obligation of the helping professions. Known as dual relationships or multiple relationships, holding more than one relationship with a past or current client/patient can be ethically challenging at a minimum and highly unethical in certain circumstances. Ethical professionals are aware of the potential risks associated with having more than one relationship with a client or patient and consider these both at the onset of therapy and during the therapeutic relationship. This chapter explores some of the common issues relating to dual/multiple relationships and presents ways in which the helping professions frame the appropriate and the inappropriate. Avoiding inappropriate relationships is balanced with the goal of maintaining access to services in situations such as those posed by rural areas.
The Moral Significance of Recovery
Authors: Davidson Larry
Published: November 2019

Given the loss of a sense of self long-associated with psychosis, this chapter argues that preserving and helping to reconstruct the person’s sense of personhood becomes a primary objective, and ethical imperative, of the psychotherapeutic relationship. Not to do so serves to perpetuate both the negative effects of the illness and its stigmatized status in society, adding to, rather than counteracting, the damage that is already being done to the person by this combination of factors. Drawing inspiration from Desmond Tutu’s use of the African concept of Ubuntu, this chapter argues that psychotherapy for psychosis should embody an appreciation of how persons only become persons through other people. Based on first-person accounts and qualitative research on recovery, it then describes ways in which the person’s sense of self can be restored and reconstructed through small steps in everyday life activities and with the loving support of others, including psychotherapists.
Ethical Issues in Systemic Psychotherapy
Authors: Fryszer Andreas , Schwing Rainer
Published: November 2019

Ethical codes in systemic therapy are discussed drawing on cultural, professional, legal, and complexity-oriented perspectives. First, a cultural framework is established to describe systemic perspectives on ethics following cultural codes in systemic science. Legal issues are discussed as are professional ethical formulas, which function as mandatory sets of rules for systemic practice. The description of a European systemic association’s ethical code serves as an example of systemic practice and is supplemented by medical sources. The adoption of systems science and complexity model perspectives demonstrates similarities of ethical discussion within various systemic approaches. A detailed outline of ethical guidelines in concrete systemic practice is provided, drawing on ideas of neighboring systemic models in natural and social sciences.
Ethical Considerations on Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapeutic Interventions
Authors: Levin Abigail L.
Published: November 2019

This chapter examines ethical issues arising from the widespread trend, originated by Jon Kabat-Zinn, toward using mindfulness-based practices, such as meditation, for relief of psychological symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. These techniques are adapted from Buddhist practices and are prescribed for quite different ends—such as enlightenment—in that context. Further, psychotherapeutic mindfulness clients are often not informed of the religious provenance of the techniques. These circumstances give rise to psychotherapeutic ethical considerations, such as whether psychotherapeutic mindfulness practices are problematically appropriative from Buddhism, and whether the religious provenance of the practices should be disclosed to clients. The author argues that while the practices are not problematically appropriative from Buddhists, the failure to disclose the religious origins of the practices violates informed consent obligations owed to clients.
Identifying and Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Group Psychotherapy
Authors: Brabender Virginia
Published: November 2019

This chapter focuses upon the major ethical issues that emerge in the practice of group psychotherapy. Four issues are given particular attention: competence, confidentiality, evaluation of progress, and dual relationships. It discusses these issues in terms of the core ethical principles that they engage, and considers how the therapist would go about resolve a conflict between these principles in a given practice situation. The chapter also explicates the impediments that exist to good ethical reasoning in the group situation. These include two broad categories: lack of knowledge and skills, and human factors affecting ethical decision-making. The latter include cognitive biases such as overshadowing, processing errors, and affective stimulation. Ways of surmounting these obstacles are suggested.
Common Ethical Issues Associated with Psychotherapy in Rural Areas
Authors: Hoover-Thompson Alysia , Bogle Brandon C. , Werth James L.
Published: November 2019

Ethical issues are not uncommon in the course of psychotherapy. However, the setting in which the counseling takes place can have an impact on the types of ethical dilemmas that arise. Because of the very nature of work in rural areas, concerns regarding professional competence, confidentiality, and multiple relationships are frequent when working in these types of communities. This chapter covers these topics and several others with an emphasis on special considerations with children/adolescents and with older adults. The chapter reviews common complications that may arise when providing psychotherapy, utilizing sample dilemmas, providing possible solutions, and offering recommendations for best practice when therapists are working in rural areas.
Small Business Lending
Authors: Berger Allen N. , Black Lamont K.
Published: November 2019

Small businesses are engines of economic growth that are fueled in large part by bank lending. We examine the roles of technology and regulation in the supply of small business credit. Technological changes increase small business credit supply through the adoption of new hard-information-based lending technologies, such as FinTech lending, as well as by improving existing lending technologies. Technological progress has more modest effects on the processing and transmission of soft information used in relationship lending. Regulatory changes, such as pre-crisis deregulation and post-crisis reregulation, directly affect bank small business lending. The combination of technological progress and geographical deregulation also has resulted in more bank consolidation and competition, both of which have mixed effects on small business credit supply. Lastly, we cover the challenges and mitigating factors in explaining the dramatic drop in small business credit availability during the Global Financial Crisis and the very slow growth during the subsequent recovery.
Behavioral Economics, Financial Literacy, and Consumers’ Financial Decisions
Authors: Elliehausen Gregory
Published: November 2019

This chapter reviews research in behavioral economics and financial literacy that raises concerns that consumers lack competence to make complex financial decisions. Consumers do not collect comprehensive information or extensively evaluate alternatives. They rely on heuristics that cause them to make systematic errors in judgment, and many individuals lack an understanding of basic financial principles, which arguably would hamper individuals’ ability to manage their finances effectively. Decisions are generally purposive, however, and individuals tend to be deliberative and thoughtful when the situation warrants. Outcomes may not be optimal but such decision processes nevertheless may be an economical means for achieving desired goals. The extent to which these phenomena impair actual decisions in markets is not at all clear. At this time, neither existing behavioral evidence nor conventional economic evidence supports a general conclusion that consumers’ financial decisions are not rational or that markets do not work reasonably well.
Riverine Borderlands and Multicultural Contacts in Central Brazil, 1775–1835
Authors: Karasch Mary
Published: November 2019

Central Brazil was a contested region in the eighteenth century, where Luso-Brazilians with indigenous and African slaves had seized lands rich in gold from indigenous nations along the Tocantins and Araguaia rivers. The Portuguese called this region the captaincy of Goiás, including the modern states of Goiás and Tocantins with parts of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso. Portuguese officials claimed to have conquered the territory, but indigenous nations and runaway slaves maintained control over vast areas. For more than a century after the discovery of gold in the 1720s, lands remained in dispute; there was no closure of the frontier in favor of the Portuguese. And in the early nineteenth century, the indigenous nations of Tocantins almost drove Luso-Brazilians from their territory. This chapter demonstrates how indigenous peoples used their skills in warfare, trade, and diplomacy to ensure their survival.
The Spanish Empire’s Southernmost Frontiers
Authors: Montanez-Sanabria Elizabeth , Ximena Urbina Carrasco María
Published: November 2019

After the 1598 Araucanian rebellion, the Bío Bío River remained as the imperial southernmost frontier during Spanish rule. However, the territory between Bío Bío River and Tierra del Fuego comprised three differentiated groups: the Araucanos, in northern Toltén River; the Huilliches, in the south; and the Austral Canoeros in the insular region, or mobile of Aysén. Although the Araucanía was traditionally considered the frontier with the Spanish Empire, the “frontera de arriba,” or Huilliche, and the mobile of Aysén, constituted the last frontier in the continent and the theater of interaction between local indigenous peoples and European privateers. This chapter examines the complexities of this region, including its condition of triple frontier as well as the attempts of privateers to forge alliances with local populations to establish colonies in the region. It argues that the interaction of these internal and external “enemies” of Spain shaped this borderland.
Connections and Circulation in the Southern Andes from Colony to Republic
Authors: Conti Viviana E.
Published: November 2019

This chapter examines patterns of mobility and exchange over time in the Southern Andes, the area now recognized as northeastern Argentina, southeastern Bolivia, northern Chile and southern Peru. These patterns persisted through the traffic of colonial exchange and the mercantile flows of nineteenth-century nation-states, including indigenous and Creole merchants and traders. Caravans, animal driving, cattle herding, and markets all enabled an autonomous exchange of products and social connections. Rural practices of resource mobilization analyzed in this chapter enabled communication along age-old routes of circulation and brought together distinct ecological environments, forging a space of exchange that surpassed limitations imposed by the nation state.
Women, Children, and Slaves in Rabbinic Law
Authors: Hezser Catherine
Published: November 2019

Rabbinic law on women, children, and slaves developed on the basis of biblical law and in the context of the Greco-Roman and Sasanian cultural environments in which Palestinian and Babylonian rabbis lived. The discussions were innovative in their adaptation of biblical law to new circumstances. From a sociological point of view, women, children, and slaves were dependents of the householder who were generally associated with the private sphere of the household. At the same time, they differed from each other with regard to honor, which only free persons possessed, and with regard to gender, since male children were raised to become Torah-observant male Jews themselves. Palestinian rabbinic law shows interesting similarities with and differences to Roman law of which rabbis would have been aware even if direct influences cannot be established.
The Book of the Covenant
Authors: Edenburg Cynthia
Published: November 2019

The Book of the Covenant is widely considered the earliest collection of biblical law, with origins going back to the period of the monarchy. However, scholars are divided on many questions, such as whether the Book of the Covenant comprises all of Exodus 20:22–24:1 or only discrete sections of this block; the degree of the Book of the Covenant’s literary unity; and the purpose of the original collection and its social and historical setting. This chapter provides an overview of the problems, and discusses directions for future research.
Law in the Wisdom Tradition
Authors: Crenshaw James L.
Published: November 2019

Originally, law and wisdom were indistinct from one another. Both case law and ethos made up family norms of behavior and were transmitted orally from generation to generation. Over time, case law was supplemented by written statutes; the earliest known codes in Mesopotamia were from Sumer, followed by Akkadian, Babylonian, and Hittite exemplars. Ethos developed into proverbial sayings and instructions, debates, and dialogue. The early sapiential corpus (Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes) ignored biblical law (the Covenant Code, Decalogue, Deuteronomy, Holiness Code). That situation changed with Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon, who fused wisdom with law. Among sages, torah, the usual word for law, was used to indicate (1) the first five books of the Bible; (2) parental instruction; and (3) specific statutes. This chapter examines all three senses, focusing on the Deuterocanonical books.
The Role of Law in the Formation of the Pentateuch and the Canon
Authors: Kazen Thomas
Published: November 2019

Legal material is crucial for the Pentateuch’s formation. After an overview of pentateuchal research and documentary hypotheses, the legal collections and their interrelationship are discussed. Although a pre-exilic deuteronomic core, rewriting the Covenant Code, is likely, its final editing is a post-exilic development, with priestly laws and the Holiness Code following. The evolving Pentateuch becomes a distinct entity in the fourth century bce, but the text remains in a certain flux through the Hellenistic period. As a foundational document, consolidating the Judean and Samaritan communities alike, it reflects concerns with the revived temple cult(s) and Persian influence on Israelite practice. The Pentateuch receives special status earlier than the Prophets and the Writings. The transition from descriptive instruction to prescriptive law, from formative ideal to normative legislation, is a continuous process through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, with bearing on tensions around legal interpretation during the late Second Temple period.