bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TaqMan Multiplex Real-Time qPCR assays for the detection and quantification of Barley yellow dwarf virus, Wheat dwarf virus and Wheat streak mosaic virus and the study of their interactions
Authors: Jarošová Jana , Ripl Jan , Fousek Jan , Kundu Jiban Kumar
Published: August 2018

The phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum forms dormant structures (termed sclerotia) that germinate myceliogenically under certain environmental conditions. During myceliogenic germination, sclerotia produce hyphae, which can infect leaves or stems of host plants directly from the ground; this is termed basal infection. This study determined which abiotic conditions were most important for promoting myceliogenic germination of sclerotia in vitro. A high sclerotium hydration level and low incubation temperature (15°C) improved mycelial growth in the presence of a nutrient source. Sclerotia incubated without a nutrient source on moist sand, vigorously myceliogenically germinated most frequently (63%) when they had been previously imbibed and then conditioned at −20°C. By far the most consistent amount of vigorous myceliogenic germination (>75%) was produced when sclerotia were heat-dried before being submerged in water. The hyphae of these sclerotia were shown to infect and proliferate on leaves of intact Brassica napus plants. This research provides a better understanding of the abiotic conditions that are likely to increase the risk of basal infection by S. sclerotiorum.
Subsistence lifestyles and insular forest loss in the Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea: an endemic hotspot
Authors: Goulding William , Perez Alvaro Salazar , Moss Patrick , McAlpine Clive
Published: August 2018

Insular areas of the south-west Pacific support high levels of global biodiversity and are undergoing rapid change. The Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea is a poorly known location with high levels of endemism. The largest island, Sudest Island, supports single-island endemic species and has the largest tract of forest remaining in this island group. The islands still support traditional subsistence lifestyles. This study investigated the patterns of forest loss since 1974 and predicted future forest loss to identify areas of conservation concern. We collected village population census data to assess population growth from 1979–2011. Historical vegetation mapping from 1974 was compared with Global Forest Change data from 2000–14. The geospatial drivers of forest loss were investigated using a generalised linear mixed model. Projected forest cover loss patterns in the islands were modelled in GEOMOD to the year 2030. Resident populations grew rapidly (6.0% per year, 1979–2011) but only a low rate of forest loss (e.g. −0.035% per year, Sudest Island) was observed between 1974 and 2014, restricted to low elevations near villages. Future modelling showed varied impacts on the remaining forest extents of the larger islands. The study offers a rare contemporary example of a biodiverse hotspot that has remained relatively secure. We concluded that local cultural and environmental settings of islands in the south-west Pacific can strongly determine the patterns and processes of forest cover change, and need to be considered in programs to conserve endemic diversity.
Elucidation of near-resonance vibronic coherence lifetimes by nonadiabatic electronic-vibrational state character mixing
Authors: Yeh Shu-Hao , Hoehn Ross D. , Allodi Marco A. , Engel Gregory S. , Kais Sabre
Published: August 2018

Significance

Excitation energy transfer (EET) remains one of the most highly discussed nonequilibrium transport phenomena in the fields of biophysics and physical chemistry because of the possible role of long-lived quantum coherences in enhancing transport efficiency. These coherences were first observed using 2D electronic spectroscopy, and their origin remains elusive. By modeling a vibronically coupled dimer with explicitly introduced dephasing mechanisms—such as electronic energy fluctuation and vibrational relaxation—we demonstrate that the coherence lifetime is highly correlated with the degree of electronic-vibrational mixing, implying that near the exciton-vibrational resonance, the vibronic system has an optimal balance between coherence lifetime and oscillator strength. The degree of vibronic coupling may thus be an optimizable parameter to enhance energy transfer.
microRNAs selectively protect hub cells of the germline stem cell niche from apoptosis
Authors: Volin Marina , Zohar-Fux Maayan , Gonen Oren , Porat-Kuperstein Lilach , Toledano Hila
Published: August 2018

Genotoxic stress such as irradiation causes a temporary halt in tissue regeneration. The ability to regain regeneration depends on the type of cells that survived the assault. Previous studies showed that this propensity is usually held by the tissue-specific stem cells. However, stem cells cannot maintain their unique properties without the support of their surrounding niche cells. In this study, we show that exposure of Drosophila melanogaster to extremely high levels of irradiation temporarily arrests spermatogenesis and kills half of the stem cells. In marked contrast, the hub cells that constitute a major component of the niche remain completely intact. We further show that this atypical resistance to cell death relies on the expression of certain antiapoptotic microRNAs (miRNAs) that are selectively expressed in the hub and keep the cells inert to apoptotic stress signals. We propose that at the tissue level, protection of a specific group of niche cells from apoptosis underlies ongoing stem cell turnover and tissue regeneration.
B cell adaptor for PI3-kinase (BCAP) modulates CD8+ effector and memory T cell differentiation
Authors: Singh Mark D. , Ni Minjian , Sullivan Jenna M. , Hamerman Jessica A. , Campbell Daniel J.
Published: August 2018

CD8+ T cells respond to signals via the T cell receptor (TCR), costimulatory molecules, and immunoregulatory cytokines by developing into diverse populations of effector and memory cells. The relative strength of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling early in the T cell response can dramatically influence downstream effector and memory T cell differentiation. We show that initial PI3K signaling during T cell activation results in up-regulation of the signaling scaffold B cell adaptor for PI3K (BCAP), which further potentiates PI3K signaling and promotes the accumulation of CD8+ T cells with a terminally differentiated effector phenotype. Accordingly, BCAP-deficient CD8+ T cells have attenuated clonal expansion and altered effector and memory T cell development following infection with Listeria monocytogenes. Thus, induction of BCAP serves as a positive feedback circuit to enhance PI3K signaling in activated CD8+ T cells, thereby acting as a molecular checkpoint regulating effector and memory T cell development.
Cancer cells’ ability to mechanically adjust to extracellular matrix stiffness correlates with their invasive potential
Authors: Wullkopf Lena , West Ann-Katrine V. , Leijnse Natascha , Cox Thomas R. , Madsen Chris D. , Oddershede Lene B. , Erler Janine T.
Published: August 2018

Increased tissue stiffness is a classic characteristic of solid tumors. One of the major contributing factors is increased density of collagen fibers in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Here, we investigate how cancer cells biomechanically interact with and respond to the stiffness of the ECM. Probing the adaptability of cancer cells to altered ECM stiffness using optical tweezers–based microrheology and deformability cytometry, we find that only malignant cancer cells have the ability to adjust to collagen matrices of different densities. Employing microrheology on the biologically relevant spheroid invasion assay, we can furthermore demonstrate that, even within a cluster of cells of similar origin, there are differences in the intracellular biomechanical properties dependent on the cells’ invasive behavior. We reveal a consistent increase of viscosity in cancer cells leading the invasion into the collagen matrices in comparison with cancer cells following in the stalk or remaining in the center of the spheroid. We hypothesize that this differential viscoelasticity might facilitate spheroid tip invasion through a dense matrix. These findings highlight the importance of the biomechanical interplay between cells and their microenvironment for tumor progression.
The in situ structures of mono-, di-, and trinucleosomes in human heterochromatin
Authors: Cai Shujun , Böck Désirée , Pilhofer Martin , Gan Lu
Published: August 2018

The in situ three-dimensional organization of chromatin at the nucleosome and oligonucleosome levels is unknown. Here we use cryo-electron tomography to determine the in situ structures of HeLa nucleosomes, which have canonical core structures and asymmetric, flexible linker DNA. Subtomogram remapping suggests that sequential nucleosomes in heterochromatin follow irregular paths at the oligonucleosome level. This basic principle of higher-order repressive chromatin folding is compatible with the conformational variability of the two linker DNAs at the single-nucleosome level.
Remodeling neuronal ER–PM junctions is a conserved nonconducting function of Kv2 plasma membrane ion channels
Authors: Kirmiz Michael , Palacio Stephanie , Thapa Parashar , King Anna N. , Sack Jon T. , Trimmer James S.
Published: August 2018

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and plasma membrane (PM) form junctions crucial to ion and lipid signaling and homeostasis. The Kv2.1 ion channel is localized at ER–PM junctions in brain neurons and is unique among PM proteins in its ability to remodel these specialized membrane contact sites. Here, we show that this function is conserved between Kv2.1 and Kv2.2, which differ in their biophysical properties, modulation, and cellular expression. Kv2.2 ER–PM junctions are present at sites deficient in the actin cytoskeleton, and disruption of the actin cytoskeleton affects their spatial organization. Kv2.2-containing ER–PM junctions overlap with those formed by canonical ER–PM tethers. The ability of Kv2 channels to remodel ER–PM junctions is unchanged by point mutations that eliminate their ion conduction but eliminated by point mutations within the Kv2-specific proximal restriction and clustering (PRC) domain that do not impact their ion channel function. The highly conserved PRC domain is sufficient to transfer the ER–PM junction–remodeling function to another PM protein. Last, brain neurons in Kv2 double-knockout mice have altered ER–PM junctions. Together, these findings demonstrate a conserved in vivo function for Kv2 family members in remodeling neuronal ER–PM junctions that is distinct from their canonical role as ion-conducting channels shaping neuronal excitability.
Spectrin regulates cell contractility through production and maintenance of actin bundles in theCaenorhabditis elegansspermatheca
Authors: Wirshing Alison C. E. , Cram Erin J.
Published: August 2018

Disruption to the contractility of cells, including smooth muscle cells of the cardiovascular system and myoepithelial cells of the glandular epithelium, contributes to the pathophysiology of contractile tissue diseases, including asthma, hypertension, and primary Sjögren’s syndrome. Cell contractility is determined by myosin activity and actomyosin network organization and is mediated by hundreds of protein–protein interactions, many directly involving actin. Here we use a candidate RNA interference screen of more than 100 Caenorhabditis elegans genes with predicted actin-binding and regulatory domains to identify genes that contribute to the contractility of the somatic gonad. We identify the spectrin cytoskeleton composed of SPC-1/α-spectrin, UNC-70/β-spectrin, and SMA-1/β heavy-spectrin as required for contractility and actin organization in the myoepithelial cells of the C. elegans spermatheca. We use imaging of fixed and live animals as well as tissue- and developmental-stage-specific disruption of the spectrin cytoskeleton to show that spectrin regulates the production of prominent central actin bundles and is required for maintenance of central actin bundles throughout successive rounds of stretch and contraction. We conclude that the spectrin cytoskeleton contributes to spermathecal contractility by promoting maintenance of the robust actomyosin bundles that drive contraction.
Market Concentration, Market Shares, and Retail Food Prices: Evidence from the U.S. Women, Infants, and Children Program
Authors: Ma Meilin , Saitone Tina L. , Volpe Richard J. , Sexton Richard J. , Saksena Michelle
Published: August 2018

We explore pricing in local food‐retailing markets where supermarkets operate versus those occupied solely by smaller food retailers. Using data from the Women, Infants, and Children program in the Greater Los Angeles area, we show that supermarkets do not raise prices in local markets or as a function of market concentration or firm market shares. Smaller food retailers charge substantially higher prices on average than supermarkets. Their prices increase with market concentration and shares of sales, especially when small retailers face no direct competition from supermarkets. Given the dominance of small retailers in some low‐income areas, our findings have important implications regarding local market power, food costs, and supermarket entry.
Laboratory-acquired Scrub Typhus and Murine Typhus Infections: The Argument for a Risk-based Approach to Biosafety Requirements for Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia typhi Laboratory Activities
Authors: Blacksell Stuart D , Robinson Matthew T , Newton Paul N , Day Nicholas P J
Published: August 2018

The highest-risk activities for scrub/murine typhus laboratory-acquired infections were working with infectious laboratory animals. Eight scrub typhus deaths occurred during the preantibiotic era. Risk-based biosafety approaches would improve efficiencies of in vitro/in vivo growth of scrub/murine typhus.
The Effect of California’s Paid Family Leave Program on Employment Among Middle-Aged Female Caregivers
Authors: Kang Ji Young , Park Sojung , Kim BoRin , Kwon Eunsun , Cho Joonyoung
Published: August 2018

Background and Objectives

This study examined the effect of a Paid Family Leave program in California (CA-PFL) on employment among middle-aged female caregivers. We also examined differences in the relationship between the availability of paid family leave (PFL) and employment in socioeconomic subgroups of midlife women.

Research Design and Methods

Data came from multiple years (2000‒2014) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) (N = 68,773 individuals). Applying a Difference in Differences (DiD) approach to removing potential selection biases related to program participation, we used a logistic regression to estimate the effects of PFL.

Results

There was a significant increase in the likelihood of working based on CA-PFL. This positive effect, however, was found only among the early middle-aged, the near-poor, and those had the highest level of education.

Discussion and Implications

Among the late middle-aged, caregiving burden may not affect decisions on whether to exit the labor market, and PFL may not significantly mitigate the well-known negative effects of intense and multiple caregiving roles (parents, spouse, and/or children with disabilities). Future studies should examine PFL effects and their correlates such as age-cohorts, caregiving intensity, and retirement patterns. The unexpected null findings of CA-PFL’s effect on employment outcomes for the poor and those with low education levels suggests these vulnerable groups might not be able to fully benefit from the originally intended goal of the policy, instead being left more vulnerable compared to the near poor. Such a possibility increases the importance of focused research and policymaking attention for this group.
Comparisons of echo-integration performance from two multiplexed echosounders
Authors: Macaulay Gavin J , Scoulding Ben , Ona Egil , Fässler Sascha M M
Published: August 2018

A time-series of acoustically derived aquatic biomass estimates relies on the acoustic equipment maintaining the same performance throughout the time-series. This is normally achieved through a regular calibration process. When the acoustic equipment changes it is necessary to verify that the new equipment produces a similar result to the old equipment, otherwise an unknown bias can be introduced into the time-series. The commonly used Simrad EK60 echosounder has been superseded by the Simrad EK80 echosounder and the performance of these two scientific echosounder systems was compared using interleaved pinging through the same transducer. This was repeated for multiple transducer frequencies (18, 38, 70, 120, and 200 kHz) and from two vessels (Norway’s G.O. Sars in the North Sea and The Netherlands’ Tridens in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean). The broadband facility of the EK80 was not used. Regressions of the grid-integrated backscatter from the two systems were highly linear. The difference in area backscattering coefficients in typical survey conditions was less than 0.6 dB (12%) at the main survey frequency of 38 kHz. In most conventional fish acoustic surveys, the observed differences are less than other sources of survey bias and uncertainty.
Biomedical informatics meets data science: current state and future directions for interaction
Authors: Payne Philip R O , Bernstam Elmer V , Starren Justin B
Published: August 2018

There are an ever-increasing number of reports and commentaries that describe the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of big data and data science (DS) in the context of biomedical education, research, and practice. These publications argue that there are substantial benefits resulting from the use of data-centric approaches to solve complex biomedical problems, including an acceleration in the rate of scientific discovery, improved clinical decision making, and the ability to promote healthy behaviors at a population level. In addition, there is an aligned and emerging body of literature that describes the ethical, legal, and social issues that must be addressed to responsibly use big data in such contexts. At the same time, there has been growing recognition that the challenges and opportunities being attributed to the expansion in DS often parallel those experienced by the biomedical informatics community. Indeed, many informaticians would consider some of these issues relevant to the core theories and methods incumbent to the field of biomedical informatics science and practice. In response to this topic area, during the 2016 American College of Medical Informatics Winter Symposium, a series of presentations and focus group discussions intended to define the current state and identify future directions for interaction and collaboration between people who identify themselves as working on big data, DS, and biomedical informatics were conducted. We provide a perspective concerning these discussions and the outcomes of that meeting, and also present a set of recommendations that we have generated in response to a thematic analysis of those same outcomes. Ultimately, this report is intended to: (1) summarize the key issues currently being discussed by the biomedical informatics community as it seeks to better understand how to constructively interact with the emerging biomedical big data and DS fields; and (2) propose a framework and agenda that can serve to advance this type of constructive interaction, with mutual benefit accruing to both fields.
Clinical Impact of Tumor Mutational Burden in Neuroblastoma
Authors: Hwang William L , Wolfson Rachel L , Niemierko Andrzej , Marcus Karen J , DuBois Steven G , Haas-Kogan Daphne
Published: August 2018

Background

Neuroblastoma is the most common pediatric extracranial solid tumor. Within conventional risk groups, there is considerable heterogeneity in outcomes, indicating the need for improved risk stratification.

Methods

In this study we analyzed the somatic mutational burden of 515 primary, untreated neuroblastoma tumors from three independent cohorts. Mutations in coding regions were determined by whole-exome/genome sequencing of tumor samples compared to matched blood leukocytes. Survival data for 459 patients were available for analysis of 5-year overall survival using the Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test. All statistical tests were two-sided.

Results

Despite a low overall somatic mutational burden (mean = 3, range = 0–56), 107 patients were considered to have high mutational burden (>3 mutations). Unfavorable histology and age 18 months and older were associated with high mutational burden. Patients with high mutational burden had inferior 5-year overall survival (29.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 17.2 to 41.8%) vs those with three or fewer somatic mutations (76.2%, 95% CI = 71.5 to 80.3%) (log-rank P < .001) and this association persisted when limiting the analysis to genes included on a 447-gene panel commonly used in clinical practice. On multivariable analysis, mutational burden remained prognostic independent of age, stage, histology and MYCN status.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that mutational burden of primary neuroblastoma may be useful in combination with conventional risk factors to optimize risk stratification and guide treatment decisions, pending prospective validation.
Session One: Positive Introduction and Gratitude Journal
Authors: Rashid Tayyab , Seligman Martin
Published: August 2018

Session One orients clients to the clinical milieu and clarifies client and clinician roles and responsibilities. This session also teaches how to start the ongoing practice of cultivating gratitude through journaling positive experiences and appreciating the impact of gratitude on well-being. The two positive psychotherapy practices covered in this session are Positive Introduction and Gratitude Journal.
ALMA imaging of the nascent planetary nebula IRAS 15103–5754
Authors: Gómez José F , Niccolini Gilles , Suárez Olga , Miranda Luis F , Rizzo J Ricardo , Uscanga Lucero , Green James A , de Gregorio-Monsalvo Itziar
Published: August 2018

We present continuum and molecular-line (CO, C18O, HCO+) observations carried out with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array toward the ‘water fountain’ star IRAS 15103–5754, an object that could be the youngest planetary nebula (PN) known. We detect two continuum sources, separated by 0.39 ± 0.03 arcsec. The emission from the brighter source seems to arise mainly from ionized gas, thus confirming the PN nature of the object. The molecular-line emission is dominated by a circumstellar torus with a diameter of ≃0.6 arcsec (2000 au) and expanding at ≃23 km s−1. We see at least two gas outflows. The highest-velocity outflow (deprojected velocities up to 250 km s−1), traced by the CO lines, shows a biconical morphology, whose axis is misaligned ≃14° with respect to the symmetry axis of the torus, and with a different central velocity (by ≃8 km s−1). An additional high-density outflow (traced by HCO+) is oriented nearly perpendicular to the torus. We speculate that IRAS 15103–5754 was a triple stellar system that went through a common envelope phase, and one of the components was ejected in this process. A subsequent low-collimation wind from the remaining binary stripped out gas from the torus, creating the conical outflow. The high velocity of the outflow suggests that the momentum transfer from the wind is extremely efficient, or that we are witnessing a very energetic mass-loss event.
Hesiodic Poetics
Authors: Scully Stephen
Published: August 2018

In terms of poetics, the contest between Hesiod and Homer seems simultaneously natural and surprising: natural because both of them composed in the artificial “song dialect” and highly formulaic medium of epea, and surprising because Homer’s long, heroic poetry differed so greatly in voice, theme, length, structure, and style from Hesiod’s much shorter, catalogic narrative poetry or from his didactic poetry. This chapter examines Hesiod’s poetry alongside Homer’s in terms of voice and theme, length and form, and style and genealogical lists. With examples from both singers, I propose that it may be a stylistic feature of catalogic poetry to interweave the personified names in a list with the corresponding lowercase words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) in the surrounding narrative. I also propose that, to a greater extent than Homer, Hesiod, with his fondness for word play and etymological punning, draws attention upon individual words.
Hesiod’s Theogony and the Structures of Poetry
Authors: Sammons Benjamin
Published: August 2018

The Theogony displays a preoccupation with poetic structure that reflects the cosmic and political structures that are its subject. Consequently the structures that support the poem change with the changing world it describes. In the earlier part of the poem the dominant poetic structure is the catalogue, and Hesiod goes far in showing what he can express with this form alone, particularly through juxtaposition, anachrony, allegory, and paradigmatic patterning. Narrative appears first as free elaboration on the genealogical framework but becomes a dominant poetic form in parallel with the emerging tale of Zeus’s rise to power. These observations buttress existing views on the meaning of the poem’s overall arrangement, and can also shed light on debates about its exact end-point.
In Hesiod’s World
Authors: Tandy David
Published: August 2018

A close analysis of Hesiod’s scheme of production indicates that he is pursuing “extensive surplus-generating agriculture.” Thus, Hesiod is indistinguishable on a rhythmic agricultural basis from the basilēes of the Homeric epics and of his own poems. Hesiod manages the labor of slaves and other dependent workers, and his interests are in opposition to those who provide labor and value to the production process. A second divide is discernible between the polis and its basilēes on the one side and on the other all those out in Ascra who are subject to both a market disadvantage and a judicial process that is being expanded by the urban basilēes. These simultaneous divisions contribute to the ambiguous picture of Hesiod as both large landowner/exploiter and peasant/exploited. Sympotic adaptations of Works and Days meant that ancient reception of the poem seems to have been restricted to the first picture only.
Hesiod’s Rhetoric of Exhortation
Authors: González José M.
Published: August 2018

This chapter examines Hesiod’s rhetoric of exhortation under the ancient discourse modality of the ainos. As a mode of discourse focused on audience construction and reception, attention to the Panhellenic shape of Hesiod’s ainetic speech reaffirms the conventionality of the biographical frame narrative. The rhetorical aim of this exhortation is to encourage the audience to join the performer in his praise and censure. After establishing the interpretative centrality of reception and introducing the pragmatic function of the ainos, I consider in turn the role of the two Erides, the basilēes (“magistrates”), Perses, and Hesiod. From this analysis the Works and Days comes clearly into view as inspired and authoritative Panhellenic exhortation, a performance of justice that aims squarely at the external polis audience.
Gender in Hesiod: A Poetics of the Powerless
Authors: Lye Suzanne
Published: August 2018

Hesiod’s famous misogyny is part of a larger “poetics of the powerless” that pervades his epics. The poetic persona of his epics establishes a hierarchy of gender as a defense against his own situation of powerlessness, as presented in the poem. Hesiod subtly challenges those with power, whether in the human or divine realms, and condescends to those below him in the hierarchy, whether female or male. The poet’s portrayal of men and women is therefore the expression of a desire to reduce the power difference between himself and those around him in both the mortal and immortal spheres. As a result, gender in Hesiod is not binary but has aspects coded as positive or negative along a spectrum based on how the individual figure fits into the cosmic power hierarchy.
Deviant Origins: Hesiod’s Theogony and the Orphica
Authors: Edmonds III Radcliffe G.
Published: August 2018

Hesiod’s Theogony provides one of the most widely authoritative accounts of the origin of the cosmos, but his account has always been challenged by rivals claiming to be older, wiser, and better, and the name of Orpheus has always been privileged in the evidence for ancient rivals to Hesiod. The Orphic accounts play their variations on the Hesiodic themes, riffing in different ways on the idea of the ultimate origin of the cosmos; the processes of reproduction by which subsequent entities were generated; the conflicts between these divinities that created the changes from the original state to the current one; the way in which humans entered the story; and the final resolution of the conflicts and changes that created the current, normal order of Zeus. The shocking innovations they introduce in the images of the theogonic narrative serve to bolster the authority of their often less shockingly innovative cosmological ideas.
Introduction
Authors: Scully Stephen , Loney Alexander C.
Published: August 2018

The chapter one offers an overview of the structure and themes of the handbook, divided between twelve chapters on Hesiod’s art and the singer/poet’s milieu, and seventeen on matters of reception from archaic art, poetry, and philosophical inquiry to contemporary comic books. The chapter also offers a rationale for its selection of contributors: in the hope of adding fresh insights to the study of Hesiod and his reception, the volume brings together twenty-nine scholars, both junior and senior, many of whom, while experts in their fields, are looking at Hesiodic questions or Hesiodic reception for the first time. When considering the long trajectory of reception studies, the chapter examines the shifting weight of attention from the Works and Days to the Theogony and compares ancient allegory to its very different modern counterpart in theorists like Freud and Lévi-Strauss.
Prince Paul’s Psychoanalysis: What Is It?
Authors: Fleshner Nathan
Published: August 2018

This chapter provides an analysis of Prince Paul’s album Psychoanalysis: What Is It? in the context of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic process and focuses on three key tenets of that process—free association, transference, and drives. It explores not only a satirical therapeutic process in Paul’s album but also a commentary on and critique of the psychoanalytic process itself—a judgment on the effectiveness of a therapeutic treatment, particularly in regard to race. It frames Psychoanalysis within the context of several of Paul’s subsequent albums and the work of other hip hop artists. In doing so, it builds on previous categorizations of rap topics and style and proposes a new genre, therapy rap.
“When We Gonna Quit? The 31st Of Never!”
Authors: Farrugia Rebekah , Hay Kellie
Published: August 2018

This study combines ethnographic fieldwork and textual analysis of musical tracks to explore the ways that women hip hop emcees are making claims to Detroit: sonically, discursively, and materially. Articulating the larger role this music plays in the effort to mobilize citizens is especially important in the wake of recent tensions tied to Detroit’s myriad problems and its redevelopment strategies post-bankruptcy. This chapter illustrates the ways that this music reclaims urban space, filling it not only with silenced voices but also with the rhythmic, melodic, driving, and gritty sounds of hip hop. It also functions as a primary means for organizing and practicing both community and individual ethics of self-care in a city where neoliberal policies of urban renewal and gentrification are victimizing its population.
The Ghosts Got You
Authors: Powell Elliot H.
Published: August 2018

This article examines the rather unknown digital sampling practice known as ghosting, a way of sampling a recording without providing its auditory evidence, in order to consider the musical and extramusical implications of sampling in hip hop. It uses the Timbaland-produced recordings of Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” as examples of ghosting that not only illuminate the ways in which sample-based hip hop producers maintain hip hop’s tradition of sampling without concern of violating copyright infringement but also illustrate how sampling establishes queer spatiotemporal interfaces between bodies, technology, and the social formations of race, gender, and sexuality. In all, this chapter posits that ghosting complicates the previous ways in which scholars, critics, and general listeners have come to understand and think about sampling as purely a technical practice; instead, ghosting points to how we must consider sampling’s sociocultural, and especially intersectional, import.
From Black Hipsters to Black Hippy
Authors: Williams Maxwell
Published: August 2018

An emergent hip hop genre, which this chapter terms “neo-bohemian,” is characterized by its destabilization of hip hop’s established aesthetic categories. Focusing on three underexplored aspects of flow, this chapter examines how music by neo-bohemian artists, including Kendrick Lamar of Black Hippy, disruptively engages with the elitist, high art aesthetic and bourgeois racial politics of 1980s and 1990s “jazz/bohemian hip hop” while recovering the earlier genre’s unstable connection to 1940s bebop. This “cultural genealogy” is best understood in relation to the historical aesthetic of “hipness” while necessitating new understandings of black hip expression that account for experiences of hybridity and double consciousness. From this perspective, neo-bohemian hip hop emerges as an expressive space capable of accommodating the fluidity and diversity of black subjectivity in the United States. Analysis of neo-bohemian flow provides a model for an integrated, social-musical engagement with rap music that is lacking in hip hop scholarship.
Introduction
Authors: Amann Edmund , Azzoni Carlos R.
Published: August 2018

This chapter provides context and background for the Handbook. Brazil’s economic development process and challenges are discussed and analyzed in long-term perspective. Referring to subsequent chapters, the introduction highlights the structural obstacles that will need to be overcome if Brazil is to embark on a path of sustainable and inclusive growth. These include, but are not limited to, issues surrounding productivity growth, regional inequality, investment in education and infrastructure, a commodities-centered export sector, and fiscal constraints. Although these challenges are serious they should not obscure the fact that Brazil’s economy has made important strides forward in recent years. In particular, there have been real achievements relating to poverty alleviation and price stability.
Brazil’s Macroeconomic Policy Institutions, Quasi-Stagnation, and the Interest Rate–Exchange Rate Trap
Authors: Bresser-Perreira Luiz Carlos
Published: August 2018

This chapter examines the evolution of macroeconomic policy and institutions over the long term and the ways in which they have influenced the growth path of the Brazilian economy. It establishes that a critical influence on the disappointing growth performance realized was a failure to neutralize the effects of exchange rate induced Dutch Disease. In addition to this, Brazil’s economic dynamism has been inhibited by the pursuit of a growth with current account deficits (“foreign savings”) policy; an exchange rate anchor policy to control inflation; and a high level of interest rates. Collectively, these factors have reduced the productivity and competitiveness of Brazil’s manufacturing industry. In addition, the interest-rate level has remained very high since the Real Plan and, from the late 1970s the investment capacity of the Brazilian state drastically decreased.
Trade Policy from the 1930s to the Present
Authors: Silber Simão Davi
Published: August 2018

This chapter analyzes Brazilian trade policies over the course of nearly a century and their effects on trade performance, competitiveness, and growth. Historically, Brazilian trade and investment policies have been characterized as highly protectionist to foster inward industrialization growth. At an aggregate level, Brazil lost ground in world markets for most of the products categories, except commodities. In particular, in agriculture trade and iron ore, the country became a “large player.” The chapter analyzes the links between the current account balance, capital flows, and the real exchange rate. Developed countries agreements with Latin American countries eroded the Brazilian position in developed countries’ markets. This is one of the challenges facing Brazil in the near future: how to increase market access in a world that is segmented by regional agreements, new competitive players, and laggard multilateral trade negotiation to open agricultural markets.
Brazil’s Northeast
Authors: Rands Barros Alexandre
Published: August 2018

The Brazilian Northeast is a large poor region, which was the first to be colonized in Brazil. The region experienced some dynamism as a result of its early role as a centre of the agricultural export economy. However, historical and political circumstances resulted in a society in which there was a successive failure to build up the level of human capital level in the region. In particular, low access to political power of disadvantaged social groups prevented the implementation of an inclusive educational policy. This generated low per capita GDP and productivity growth, when compared to the national average. The prospects that some convergence with the national average will occur are only partial and restricted.
Changes in Income Distribution in Brazil
Authors: Hoffmann Rodolfo
Published: August 2018

Income inequality in Brazil, already high, increased after the military coup of 1964 and remained very high even after democratization in the 1980s. It decreased substantially in the period 2001–2014, after inflation was controlled. The Gini index of the per capita household income dropped from 0.594 in 2001 to 0.513 in 2014. The determinants of this decline in inequality are analyzed considering the components of that income and how each one affected changes in inequality, showing the impact of changes in the remuneration of private sector employees and in pensions paid by the government, as well as federal transfer programs. Changes in education lie behind the first of these effects, and the increase of the minimum wage reinforced all three. The economic crises after 2014 interrupted the process of decline, and among economically active persons, inequality even increased from 2014 to 2015. Measures to further reduce inequality are suggested.
South-South Cooperation for Social Development
Authors: Hall Anthony
Published: August 2018

Under President Lula (2003–2010), Brazil’s foreign aid program expanded significantly into the area of South-South cooperation. This included the “soft power” fields of social protection, food security, agricultural research, and humanitarian assistance, among others, with a particular emphasis on supporting Sub-Saharan Africa, notably but not exclusively Portuguese-speaking countries. Much of this aid was provided with the support of technical assistance from UN agencies such as UNDP and FAO and bilateral aid bodies, via trilateral agreements, under the coordination of Brazil’s International Cooperation Agency (ABC). South-South collaboration is considered to be morally superior to conventional aid arrangements, being supposedly demand-driven and “non-exploitative,” thus empowering recipients in the process. Brazilian policymakers sought to transfer national anti-poverty initiatives to Africa. This was based initially on the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, but other nutritional food security initiatives followed, such as boosting small farmer production as well as supporting agribusiness.
The Economics of Health in Brazil
Authors: Campino Antonio Carlos Coelho , Diaz Maria Dolores Montoya , Sarti Flavia Mori
Published: August 2018

This chapter examines the historical background to the Brazilian health system and analyzes its characteristics from an economic perspective, considering the magnitude and evolution of inequities in health outcomes and the utilization of health services provided through universal health coverage policies in Brazil during recent decades. It also looks at questions regarding financial protection provided to the population by the Brazilian health system, and challenges for the future. The analysis encompasses information on the current state of research, population characteristics, attributes of the health system, evidence on health disparities, and challenges relating to the management of health care in the country. Demographic transition has compelled the country toward an incomplete epidemiological transition, marked by the coexistence of infectious diseases (traditional unresolved illnesses and emerging maladies) and chronic non-communicable diseases derived from technological advances and income growth (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, among others), without benefits from sustainable economic development.
The Rise and Fall of State Enterprises
Authors: Pinheiro Armando Castelar
Published: August 2018

We can divide the history of Brazilian state-owned enterprise (SOEs) into two periods. In the first (1930s to late 1970s), SOEs were a policy instrument in state-led industrialization. They produced manufactured goods, supplied cheap inputs to private manufacturing firms, and financed those companies with long-term, subsidized loans. In the second period (1980s to the early 2000s), Brazil privatized several of its main SOEs. Privatization was mainly seen as an answer to macroeconomic problems and did not result from a national ideological about-face; indeed, most Brazilians continued to trust the state to lead development. Thus, the fall of SOEs was relative. Large companies such as Petrobrás and Eletrobrás continue in state hands. Moreover, the Lula and Rousseff administrations created several SOEs and strengthened others. And the state developed new channels to influence private investment, through a network of equity participations in private companies, held by BNDES and SOE pension funds.
Brazilian Structuralism
Authors: Love Joseph L.
Published: August 2018

This chapter examines the evolution of the structuralist school of economic thought in the Brazilian context. The intellectual roots of structuralism are analyzed, as is the influence this set of ideas has had on economic policy formulation in Brazil. Prominent structuralists such as Celso Furtado and Raul Prebisch influenced the governments of Getúlio Vargas and Juscelino Kubitschek, while Furtado himself played a key role in establishing the national development bank (BNDES) and the Northeast development agency, SUDENE. Furtado “historicized” CEPAL structuralism and showed how losses in the coffee sector were spread across the whole economy in the 1930s. He furthermore developed a model of internal colonialism and arguably was the first dependency theorist. The crisis of structuralism in the mid-1960s ultimately resulted in neostructuralism in 1990, a reformed version of the doctrine that emphasized the export market, technological change, and continual “learning by doing.”
Leviathan Captured Neoliberalism as Solution and Problem in Brazil
Authors: Faucher Philippe
Published: August 2018

This chapter begins with an overview of the nature of neoliberalism. As markets evolved and globalization made progress, governments introduced reforms meant to adjust policies and regulations to a more open and competitive environment and reduce the relative weight and role of the state. Policies such as privatization and trade liberalization were introduced in Brazil shortly after a civilian, Fernando Collor de Melo (1990–1992), was elected president. But the neoliberal agenda was relegated to second place as all energy was turned toward the fight against inflation and the debt crisis. After a first term dedicated to consolidate public finances, President Cardoso (1995–2002) introduced a number of “market-oriented” reforms aimed at flexibility and efficiency. Under President Lula (2003–2010), social programs were improved, transfers were increased, and the minimum wage was raised. Since 2009, a recession has threatened the joint imperatives of forced development and social justice.
The Brazilian Development Bank
Authors: Cavalcante Luiz Ricardo
Published: August 2018

This chapter discusses the role played by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) based upon a survey of its costs and benefits reported in the literature. It provides some theoretical background for the creation and the existence of development banks, using this background to support a brief discussion about the long-term context that marked the bank’s evolution as well as the contemporary issues concerning its role in the Brazilian economy. The author argues that a national development bank such as the BNDES contributes to increasing capital formation, as it provides credit at more favorable conditions to selected projects. However, the author also argues that the presence of the BNDES loans forces the Central Bank to raise interest rates to a level that otherwise would be lower.
The Evolution of Brazil’s Banking System
Authors: Cortes Gustavo S. , Marcondes Renato L.
Published: August 2018

This chapter analyzes the origins and development of the Brazilian banking system from colonial times to the present day. It begins with a description of the first credit relationships before the existence of banks in colonial Brazil, followed by a discussion of the difficulties faced by the first banks established in the imperial period. It then presents a detailed discussion of domestic and foreign banks during the First Republican, and the key institutional changes that occurred during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the military regime after 1964. Later, it covers banking activities in the hyperinflation period up to the country’s stabilization in 1994. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the recent period and how the banking system endured the Great Recession of 2008–2010 and the recent Brazilian fiscal crisis that began in 2014.
Māori
Authors: King Jeanette
Published: August 2018

Te Reo Māori, the Māori language, the indigenous language of New Zealand, is one of the most well known of the languages classified as being endangered. With revitalization efforts starting in the early 1980s, initiatives such as kōhanga reo (“language nests”) have inspired other indigenous revitalization efforts worldwide. This chapter gives an overview of the history of the decline of the Māori language and charts the development of Māori language revitalization efforts which initially focused on the education and broadcasting sectors. However, since 2000 there has been a concerted focus at both government and tribal levels on strengthening the use of the Māori language in the home and community. Looking back over thirty-five years of revitalization efforts and their many phases this chapter provides information that may be of use in the revitalization efforts of other endangered languages.
The Status of the World’s Endangered Languages
Authors: Belew Anna , Simpson Sean
Published: August 2018

This chapter provides an overview of the status of the world’s endangered languages, based primarily on data from the Catalogue of Endangered Languages. Difficulties in identifying and enumerating endangered languages and obstacles to assessing linguistic vitality on a large scale are discussed. Statistical overviews are provided of language endangerment by global region, comparing trends in language endangerment across the world. The availability (or widespread absence) of the kinds of data necessary to assess language endangerment is examined, and we encourage linguists to include these types of data in their field reports and other published work. Finally, widely circulated statistics of language endangerment and death are considered.