bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Mix According to Formula”
Authors: Gair Christopher
Published: January 2017

Martin Eden (1909) commences in the aftermath of a moment of (naturalist) chance and concludes with a supreme demonstration of the realist will to power. The manner in which London begins and ends the novel suggests a deliberate resistance to any effort to contain it within preconceived generic forms, such as realism, naturalism, or the popular romance, and a desire to disconcert readers expecting the book to follow a particular, preordained pattern. Like Henry James, London places great stress on investigating and parodying the limits and overlaps between genres, challenging literary conventions of the time. This essay historicizes the Martin Eden’s representations of gender, sexuality and class, in order to locate London as a figure whose work is modern—rather than modernist—in its incorporation of a wide range of popular practices found in early film, theatre and painting, as well as in literature.
Jack London’s Sci-Fi Finale
Authors: Hay John
Published: January 2017

Jack London is often pigeonholed as a literary naturalist, but his interests aligned with a science fiction tradition. Over the course of his career, London increasingly set his narratives in the ancient past and the distant future. These fictional temporal environments provided him with new vantage points with which to explore the political relationship between individualism and nationalism, an exploration that intensified in his later work. His little-known 1912 novella The Scarlet Plague, one of the earliest examples of postapocalyptic fiction, reimagined the western frontier in a new age. Its combination of a doomed heroic individual and a struggling Darwinian population set the tone for American postapocalyptic tales to come. An examination of this novella in its historical and compositional context reveals it to be a significant step forward in London’s literary development.
Cherry, Unfinished Business
Authors: Phillips Lawrence
Published: January 2017

This essay explores Jack London’s last unfinished novel Cherry. It is read in the context of increasing tensions between the Japanese empire and the United States and Hawaii’s progression toward statehood reflecting local concerns over the large island minority of Japanese ethnicity and regressive local plantation labor laws. Cherry skillfully captures the tensions in prestatehood Hawaiian society and its dilemmas, while simultaneously exploring the nature of European-style colonialism and looking at the geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Japanese empire in the Pacific. This essay also examines various themes of race, class, and US social discourses relevant to the period and the novel while warning against the problems with biographical readings and speculations over an author’s intent.
“The Feels”
Authors: Millner Michael
Published: January 2017

In his short stories, novels, social writings, essays, and letters, London repeatedly comes face-to-face with a dilemma: how to participate in a powerful new mass culture characterized by sensation and consumption while remaining dedicated to a public sphere of reflection and critique. This essay argues that in order to address this dilemma, London develops an understanding of sensation and experience (what he sometimes called “the feels”) as a form of critical reflection. In this light, London’s stories share a vision of affective criticality with Walter Benjamin, as well as more recent theorists of the affective-based public sphere like Oscar Negt, Alexander Kluge, and Michael Warner.
“In the Thick of It”
Authors: Swafford Kevin R.
Published: January 2017

This article analyzes London’s work as a war correspondent during the early phase of the Russo-Japanese War as something other than simply an account of his experiences as a Western correspondent. The chapter argues that London’s war writing attempts to meta-discursively problematize many of the typical dimensions of war correspondence as it was practiced and represented in the “yellow press” at the close of the nineteenth century. Whereas other war correspondents often attempted to reify various similar ideas concerning war and the role of the correspondent through a writing practice that habituates an overall displacement of its discursive contingencies, London works to foreground such things in much of his Russo-Japanese War correspondence.
Constitutional Politics
Authors: Brouard Sylvain
Published: January 2017

This chapter presents the intriguing puzzle of French constitutional politics: a spectacular increase in judicialization of French politics in the context of a flexible constitution and a politicized Constitutional Council. The state of the art is reviewed first at the international level and then within France in terms of both theory-building and empirical understanding of amending constitutions, judicialization of politics, and politicization of constitutional review. The French case, thus, provides an important case for developing comparative theory on constitutional politics and will remain a promising area of inquiry for many years to come. The chapter points to three promising areas of inquiry: the relationships between the types of government control and constitutional amendments, the patterns of judicialization, and the legitimacy of the role of constitutional review.
Gender Policy Studies
Authors: Mazur Amy G. , Revillard Anne
Published: January 2017

This chapter maps out the international field of feminist comparative policy (FCP) and emerging gender policy studies in France in relation to each other. While French researchers have been involved with FCP projects and non-French scholars have contributed significantly to general understanding, knowledge, and theory on France, gender policy studies in France have maintained a distinctive twist, including more interdisciplinary connections, less formalization, less of an explicit feminist approach, and more use of in-depth qualitative methods. The distinct nature of French gender policy studies has underpinned its dynamism inside and outside France and has allowed French research to make significant contributions to comparative feminist policy studies at an international level. This strong comparative connection is reflected by the degree to which the research agendas of the French and international research communities converge around implementation studies and intersectionality.
The French Way to Multi-Level Governance
Authors: Pinson Gilles
Published: January 2017

Originally emerging from the field of EU studies, the notion and approach of multi-level governance (MLG) have progressively been transferred to a variety of other subfields. This chapter argues that three particularities characterize the way in which French political scientists have dealt with governance and MLG. First, the notion of governance has not had great success since the existing notion of government has long been used in a sociological and relational way to describe processes and outcomes rather than merely executive institutions. Second, French scholars who adopted the notion quickly departed from the early definition of governance as opposed to government, institutions, or coercion. Third, the use of governance and MLG helped to consolidate a French way of doing political science that was based on a reluctance toward theoretical hastiness, a sensitivity to varieties of situations and processes in time and space, and a shared constructivist stance.
New Technologies, Old Attitudes, and Legislative Rigidity
Authors: Harris John , Lawrence David R.
Published: January 2017

Two genetic technologies capable of making heritable changes to the human genome have revived interest in, and in some quarters a very familiar panic concerning, so-called germline interventions. These technologies are most recently the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to edit genes in non-viable IVF zygotes and Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT). The possibility of using either of these techniques in humans has encountered the most violent hostility and suspicion. Here, we counter the stance of the US NIH and its supporters by showing that differing global moralities are free to exist unimpeded under international biolaw regimes, which do not in any way represent unified opinion against such technologies. Furthermore, we suggest a more rational approach to evaluating them through analysis of similar technologies which have caused past controversy.
Human Rights and Information Technologies
Authors: Sartor Giovanni
Published: January 2017

The social changes brought about by the deployment of information technologies are wide-ranging and fundamental. A human rights analysis of such technologically driven changes shows how they implicate significant opportunities as well as risks. The chapter argues that human rights are a core aspect of regulating such technologies, particularly as human rights provide a unifying purposive perspective for diverse technologies and deployment contexts. To this end, the chapter examines how the opportunities and risks of information technologies affect and relate to the fundamental values of freedom, dignity, and equality, as well as specific human rights, such as privacy or freedom of expression.
Provenance Studies
Authors: Waksman Yona
Published: January 2017

“Provenance studies” of pottery usually involve chemical or petrographic analyses of archaeological sherds and statistical procedures of classification and attribution. However, it is considered here that the main role of the archaeological scientist lies upstream and downstream: in the design of a comprehensive sampling, and in the interpretation of analytical data. Both request a close collaboration with the archaeological partners. This chapter reminds some fundamental concepts connecting analytical data to pottery production and workshops. It considers typical case studies (site, workshop or type levels) and introduces factors taken into account in the interpretation scheme. It aims at providing ceramologists and archaeological scientists with initial methodological and practical guidelines when carrying out “provenance studies.”
Mineralogical and Chemical Alteration
Authors: Schneider Gerwulf
Published: January 2017

The chapter discusses the various kinds of mineralogical and chemical alteration of pottery buried in the soil. The effects have been studied by many archaeometrists (mostly using XRD, XRF, NAA) on the basis of three approaches: comparative studies of pottery from a single workshop buried under different conditions, analysis of profiles of single sherds, and simulation of burial conditions. The most common effects on phase composition which have an impact determining original firing temperatures are rehydration and rehydroxylation of clay minerals and alterations connected with the formation of secondary calcite. Chemical alteration influences the determination of provenances and includes absorption (e.g. of P and Ba) and leaching (e.g. of Ca, alkaline elements and others) depending on burial conditions. Examples of Roman terra sigillata are given.
Analytical Drawing
Authors: Shirvalkar Prabodh
Published: January 2017

Analytical techniques and research methodologies for archaeological ceramic analysis have changed drastically over time; however, the way we record and represent ceramics graphically has not undergone significant change in response to new technologies. This chapter discusses the method of traditional pottery illustration, line and shading or monochrome drawings done by hand, its demerits and proposes a new illustration style which combines traditional drawing formats, photography, and computer software. The new method of pottery drawing overcomes these demerits and shows the illustrations in an analytical method. Moreover this new method can benefit archaeologists to comprehend ceramic on wider geographical regions and enhances opportunities for research.
X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD)
Authors: Heimann Robert
Published: January 2017

X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) is an important tool to determine the phase composition of archaeological ceramics. In principle, a thin beam of X-rays incident to a lattice plane of crystalline matter is scattered in specific directions and angles depending on the distances of atoms. This allows determination of characteristic unit cell dimensions and serves to unambiguously identify crystalline phases in the ceramics. In this chapter, generation of X-rays and the theory of diffraction will be briefly discussed as well as equipment, focusing conditions, and sample preparation procedures of common XRPD methods. The X-ray pattern obtained will provide an analytical fingerprint that can be matched against the Powder Diffraction File of the International Centre for Diffraction Data. Examples will be given of application of this analytical technique to archaeological clays and ceramics.
History of Scientific Research
Authors: Tite M. S.
Published: January 2017

This chapter investigates the history of scientific research in the field of archaeological ceramics. The primary aim of this research is the investigation of the overall life-cycle of surviving ceramics starting with their production and continuing through their distribution to their use, reuse, and ultimate discard. The first step involves reconstruction of the production, distribution, and use of ceramics. The second step involves interpretation of this reconstructed life-cycle in order to obtain a better understanding of the behavior of the people who produced, distributed, and used these ceramics. The interpretation of the reconstructed production technology is concerned with trying to determine the reasons for the observed technological choices and changes, and the interpretation of the reconstructed distribution of ceramics is concerned with both trying to determine patterns of trade or exchange away from any identified production center or source of raw material.
Ethnography
Authors: Fowler Kent
Published: January 2017

The chapter discusses the contributions of ethnographic research to study of ceramic manufacturing practices in past societies. Ethnoarchaeology and material culture studies are identified as the two main approaches that have been used to frame research in modern pottery making communities; the former explicitly asking archaeologically relevant questions with a tendency toward positivist theoretical stances, the latter asking how ceramics are constituted in social relations using humanistic and symbolic theoretical frameworks. The discussion focuses on how research using these approaches and various theoretical frameworks have identified constraints upon manufacturing processes, how these are manifest during different stages of production, and how these have been synthesized to explain variation in manufacturing practices and finished products.
Handheld Portable Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF)
Authors: Holmqvist Elisabeth
Published: January 2017

Handheld portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry is used for non-destructive chemical characterization of archaeological ceramics. Portable XRF can provide adequate analytical sensitivity to discriminate geochemically distinct ceramic pastes, and to identify compositional clusters that correlate with data patterns acquired by NAA or other high sensitivity techniques. However, successful non-destructive analysis of unprepared inhomogeneous ceramic samples requires matrix-defined scientific protocols to control matrix effects which reduce the sensitivity and precision of the instrumentation. Quantification of the measured fluorescence intensities into absolute concentration values and detection of light elements is encumbered by the lack of matrix matched calibration and proper vacuum facilities. Nevertheless, semi-quantitative values for a limited range of high Z elements can be generated. Unstandardized results are difficult to validate by others, and decreased analytical resolution of non-destructive surface analysis may disadvantage site-specific sourcing, jeopardize correct group assignments, and lead to under-interpretation of ceramic craft and production systems.
Global Legal History
Authors: Duve Thomas
Published: January 2017

Because of transformations in the world’s legal systems, there is a need for reflection about law and legal scholarship globally. There is a growing demand for global legal history; however, there is neither a consensus as to what this history is, nor what objectives this legal historiography pursues, or even how it relates to other disciplines. In addition, global legal history reflects the traditional multiplicity of methods, aims, and forms present in current juridical historiographies. This is why it is difficult to speak about a method of global legal history. This contribution—written from a Western, perspective—can only sketch out a general panorama and some particular methodological problems. It begins by considering meanings of “global legal history,” then sketches out some methodological approaches. The final remarks emphasize that not only the intellectual but also the institutional presuppositions for a global production of legal historical knowledge need to be established.
Introduction
Authors: Zuckerman Phil , Shook John R.
Published: January 2017

The Oxford Companion to Secularism provides a timely overview of the new multidisciplinary field of secular studies. This field involves philosophy, the humanities, intellectual history, political theory, law, international studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology, education, religious studies, and additional disciplines, all showing an increasing interest in the multifaceted phenomenon known as secularism. As the history of the term “secularism” shows, it has long been entangled with many related issues, such as unorthodoxy, blasphemy, apostasy, irreligion, religious criticism, agnosticism, atheism, naturalism, earth-centered -isms, humanism (and trans- and posthumanisms), rationalism, skepticism, scientism, modernism, human rights causes, liberalism, and various kinds of church–state separation all around the world. Secularism’s relevance also continues to grow due to the dramatic rise of irreligion and secularity in most regions of the world. These trends are leading more and more scholars from a variety of disciplines to investigate secular life and culture in all its varied forms.
Secular Government in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Takyi Baffour K.
Published: January 2017

This chapter looks at religion in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the context over a contested “secularization” debate in contemporary societies. The chapter contends that a genuine transformation is underway in many parts of SSA following its independence from European colonial rule. However, these postcolonial advances are yet to significantly affect the belief systems of many Africans. On the contrary, in many SSA countries, there is evidence of an increasing growth in religiosity with its concomitant influence in both the private and public sphere. Also, while it cannot be denied that secular institutions are spreading throughout most of Africa, there is little evidence to suggest that salience of religion in the lives of many Africans. Compared to many parts of the world, religion has yet to move into the private sphere in Africa, and people have not become less religious or less vocal in the public domain.
Religion in the Public Sphere
Authors: Lafont Cristina
Published: January 2017

The priority of public reasons is a necessary component of any plausible account of the legitimacy of the institutions of constitutional democracy. This chapter analyzes the main features of the alternative conception of constitutional democracy that liberal critics endorse. This analysis shows that, in the absence of some version of the priority of public reasons, these critics cannot give a plausible account of the legitimacy of some of the institutions that their own conception relies upon. It then sketches the contours of a conception of the priority of public reasons that more accurately expresses what is at stake. By applying a more realistic and less restrictive interpretation of the priority of public reasons, religious and secular citizens can equally endorse the institutions of constitutional democracy.
Secularisms or Liberal-Democratic Constitutionalism?
Authors: Bader Veit
Published: January 2017

This chapter begins with the concepts “secular,” “secularity,” “secularization,” and “secularism” and summarizes core results of social science studies into the changing role of religions in contemporary societies, Then it discusses problems with the construction of models of the governance of religious diversity in the social sciences and presents some empirically grounded normative models of relations between (organized) religions and societies, cultures, politics, law, and the state in order to draw some normative lessons. The chapter provides a critical discussion of first- and second-order normative principles that should govern the these relations. For rich empirical descriptions and explanations in the social sciences, grand narratives or umbrella concepts such as secularization, secularism, and postsecularism fail to capture different complexities, configurations, and trade-offs. The different meanings of “the principle of secularism” are discussed and a proposal to replace them by rights and principles of liberal-democratic constitutionalism offered.
Secularism and US Religion Jurisprudence
Authors: Corbin Caroline
Published: January 2017

Religious surveys are finding greater percentages of Americans who self-identify as secular. At the same time, religious exemptions under the Free Exercise Clause have become more difficult to obtain. However, religion jurisprudence in the United States has not become more secular for two reasons. First, this greater unwillingness to grant constitutional exemptions reflects a shift in constitutional jurisprudence from “separationism” to “neutrality.” Rather than building a wall between church and state, the Establishment Clause is now interpreted to impose fewer restraints on state-sponsored religion. Second, statutes like the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and its state counterparts have not only reestablished separationist era levels of protection for religious liberty but increased them. The result is a religion jurisprudence where religion is accommodated more than ever, while the state has more leeway to advance religion. This combination has unfortunate consequences for both secular people and core secular values, such as antidiscrimination.
Religious/Nonreligious Demography and Religion versus Science
Authors: Keysar Ariela
Published: January 2017

This chapter provides sociodemographic profiles (by gender, age, and education) of a full spectrum of people around the world. People who call themselves “not religious” are compared with those who define themselves as “atheist” and also with those who say that they are “religious.” The beliefs of these distinct three groups are explored, particularly regarding their worldviews and the battle between religion and science, an issue that is at the heart of critical and enduring debates and has public policy implications. Finally, a multivariate analysis on the global conflict between science and religion is presented, examining the effects of various factors, such as demographics, religiosity, and culture.
The Challenge of Leaving Religion and Becoming Secular
Authors: Winell Marlene
Published: January 2017

This chapter explores the personal change from “religious” to “secular” and reasons why that change is such a significant paradigm shift for some people. It considers the lingering effects of religious indoctrination and the healing from trauma that it can require. A developmental perspective is applied to understand the arrested human development that occurs within a constricting religion and the stages people move toward upon leaving it. The chapter then employs a cross-cultural lens to examine cultural adaptation that can involve culture shock as people interact with an increasingly secular world. Finally, it examines aspects of healing and personal growth important to becoming secular.
Secularism in France
Authors: Barras Amélie
Published: January 2017

This chapter explores how the meaning given to French laïcité differs in function of sociopolitical and historical contexts and who is using this discourse. It highlights how discourses of laïcité are intimately linked to the religious and its definition, paying special attention to the different meanings given to three concepts around which this discourse is articulated: separation of religion and politics, neutrality, and gender equality. By putting the emphasis on the evolving dimension of this discourse, the chapter also discusses how this has implications for the production of the category “religion” and, more specifically, for delimiting what is religiously acceptable in France. These arguments are explored by paying particular attention to the relation between laïcité and Islam in contemporary France.
Ballad Opera
Authors: Joncus Berta
Published: January 2017

Between 1728 and 1760 ballad opera transformed London’s theatre by making English song the key to commercial success for stage works. By generating the first modern popular singers, it became a prototype for present-day British and American musical theatre. The jaw-dropping success of John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera established a new genre, of which three types developed, according to venue. Licensed theatres staged sentimental, putatively native ‘operas’ tailored around star sopranos such as Kitty Clive. Non-licensed theatres accommodated ballad operas with political intent, or those of particular local interest. Finally, ballad operas written for publication, not staging, deployed song to expose court scandal or protest against the government. The appeal of ballad opera depended on its songs, which pretended to instruct by appealing to popular prejudice, particularly against women. Although the Licensing Act of 1737 discouraged new works, staples of ballad opera still flourished on the London stage throughout the century.
‘I’m Common and I Like ’Em’
Authors: Francis Ben
Published: January 2017

This essay sets out to show how class and social mobility are reflected in seven period musicals of the 1960s and 1970s. In Britain the 1960s was a time of social upheaval—a development that was reflected in these shows, which are mostly set in the Victorian and Edwardian era. The essay demonstrates that the shows under discussion, Half a Sixpence, Our Man Crichton, Jorrocks, Ann Veronica, Trelawny, and The Card, are torn between celebrating proletarian vitality and acquiescing to stultifying codes of gentility, with the result that working-class pride was often expressed in genteel terms. Lastly the essay will examine Billy, a 1974 show set at the beginning of the 1960s, which showed that, for some people at least, class mobility was nothing more than a dream.
Towards a British Concept Musical
Authors: Cottis David
Published: January 2017

The three stage shows written in collaboration by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley—Stop the World—I Want to Get Off (1961), The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd (1964), and The Good Old, Bad Old Days (1972)—are unlike anything that preceded them in the British musical theatre: minimalist, metatheatrical, drawing on contemporary developments in other arts, and ultimately dependent on the persona of Newley, their co-writer and star. This chapter examines the collaboration between Bricusse and Newley, its influences and legacy, as well as the work each did without the other—Newley’s history of musical autobiography and Bricusse’s many literary adaptations.
Les Misérables
Authors: Grossman Kathryn M. , Stephens Bradley
Published: January 2017

One of Britain’s most profitable musical exports, Les Misérables has captivated audiences worldwide with its mix of stirring spectacle and high emotion. Critical response has, however, been deeply divided. Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s ‘megamusical’ has often been accused of trivializing the mammoth nineteenth-century novel by Victor Hugo on which it is based, reducing Hugo’s epic of social injustice to populist sentimentalism. To challenge the cliché of the inferiority of adaptations and the bias towards ‘high art’ that such criticism generates, this essay specifies the relationship between Hugo’s global bestseller and the world’s longest-running musical. This connection has received much less scholarly attention than the fame of each work would suggest. By exploring their affiliation within the contexts of both Hugo’s Romanticism and the libretto’s collaborative development from Paris to London, a revealing likeness is identified that clearly underpins the success of the ‘show of shows’.
Lionel Bart
Authors: Taylor Millie
Published: January 2017

Lionel Bart created musical theatre works from a uniquely British working-class perspective. Rather than having an academic training he relied on instincts developed from a working-class East End Jewish upbringing, the London pop music industry, and his early theatrical experiences at Unity and Theatre Workshop. From these diverse influences he produced what is arguably one of the best-loved British musicals of all time, Oliver! Subsequently, Blitz! and Maggie May also achieved commercial and critical success in Britain, but did not transfer to Broadway. Building on his background and theatrical context, Bart spoke in a vernacular musical and lyrical language that retained a gritty urban realism and a left-wing political ideology. Although the small number of his works that are regularly revived demonstrates that he wrote of and for his time, his influence and that of his collaborator, set designer Sean Kenny, has been pervasive and profound.
Comic Opera
Authors: Williams Carolyn
Published: January 2017

W. S. Gilbert (librettist) and Arthur Sullivan (composer) wrote fourteen works of musical theatre from 1871 to 1896, often called the ‘Savoy operas’ after 1881, when producer Richard D’Oyly Carte built the Savoy Theatre to house them. They crafted a distinctive genre of English comic opera through parodies of previous genres both high and low, both English and Continental. The operas are absurdist, parodic, and satirical, but are played in a deadpan style and are punctuated with resonantly affecting numbers. The comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan are an essential precursor of the modern musical, and their depiction of English society is humorous yet critical, replete with satire of English institutions, the law, the professions, gender relations, and empire. They examine the theatricality of everyday life, the dynamics of socialization, accidents of birth and circumstance, the effects of tutelage and authority, Victorian exhibition culture, social class, gender, and nationalism.
Introduction
Authors: Gordon Robert , Jubin Olaf
Published: January 2017

The Introduction explains the need for academic exploration of the British musical by approaching the genre from various perspectives: its sociocultural meanings, its correlation to queer culture and British camp, its close and sometimes rivalrous relationship with American popular culture, its attempts to straddle the divide between highbrow and lowbrow, and the relationship between the West End musical and ethnic subcultures in the UK. The authors argue that to judge British musicals by standards and conventions established by the Broadway musical is bound to be misleading, not least because British artists and audiences, responding to British and European influences, have consistently demonstrated a uniquely British sensibility and taste. The Introduction gives a brief overview of the twenty-eight essays, organized into six parts, which make up the Handbook. It concludes with lists of common themes in the British musical and of related topics that remain to be addressed.
English West End Revue
Authors: Linton David
Published: January 2017

London West End revue constituted a particular response to mounting social, political, and cultural insecurities over Britain’s status and position at the beginning of the twentieth century. These insecurities were compounded by growing demands for social reform: the call for women’s emancipation and the growth of the labour and the trade union movements created a climate of mounting disillusionment. Revue correlated the immediacy of this uncertain world, through a fragmented vocabulary of performance, placing satire, parody, social commentary, and critique at its core and achieving popularity by reflecting and responding to the variations of the new lived experiences. Experimenting with narrative and expressions of speech, movement, design, and sound, revue displaced the romanticism of musical comedy by combining satirical detachment with defiant sophistication in a manner that reflected the sensibility of a waning British hegemony as a cultural expression of the fragile and changing social and political order.
‘Ordinary People’ and British Musicals of the Post-War Decade
Authors: Snelson John M.
Published: January 2017

British musicals in the decade after the Second World War reflect the broader questioning of national identity by society, shown in a shift from Labour social inclusion to Conservative reassertion of social conformity. Shows by Ivor Novello (Gay’s the Word), George Posford and Eric Maschwitz (Zip Goes a Million), Vivian Ellis and A. P. Herbert (Bless the Bride, The Water Gypsies), Sandy Wilson (The Boy Friend, The Buccaneer), and Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds (Salad Days) illustrate the shifting national perspective. They draw on such elements as flagging national spirit during post-war recovery, symbols of history and landscape, and the individual’s relationship to society and convention. The reading of such shows within a wider social context demonstrates a narrative of specifically British musical theatre distinct from an American one.
Enhanced Recovery Program and Length of Stay After Laparotomy on a Gynecologic Oncology Service
Authors: Dickson Elizabeth L. , Stockwell Erica , Geller Melissa A. , Vogel Rachel Isaksson , Mullany Sally A. , Ghebre Rahel , Witherhoff Boris J. N. , Downs Levi S. , Carson Linda F. , Teoh Deanna , Glasgow Michelle , Gerber Matt , Rivard Colleen , Erickson Britt K. , Hutchins Jacob , Argenta Peter A.
Published: January 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To estimate whether a rapid recovery program would reduce length of stay among patients undergoing laparotomy on a gynecologic oncology service.

METHODS:

We conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled trial comparing an enhanced recovery after surgery protocol with routine postoperative care among women undergoing laparotomy on the gynecologic oncology service. Protocol elements included: preoperative counseling, regional anesthesia, intraoperative fluid restriction, and early postoperative ambulation and feeding. A sample size of 50 per group (N=100) was planned to achieve 80% power to detect a two-day difference in our primary outcome, length of hospital stay; secondary outcomes included: total daily narcotics used, time to postoperative milestones, and complications.

RESULTS:

A total of 112 women were enrolled between 2013 and 2015. Nine patients did not undergo laparotomy and were excluded, leaving 52 and 51 patients in the control and intervention groups, respectively. There was no difference in length of stay between the two groups (median 3.0 in both groups; P=.36). Enhanced recovery after surgery patients used less narcotics on day 0 (10.0 compared with 5.5 morphine equivalents in the control and intervention arms, respectively, P=.09) and day 2 (10.0 compared with 7.5 morphine equivalents, respectively; P=.05); however, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in any of the secondary outcomes. Post hoc analysis based on actual anesthesia received also failed to demonstrate a difference in time to discharge.

CONCLUSION:

When compared with usual care, introducing a formal enhanced recovery after surgery protocol did not significantly reduce length of stay.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:

ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01705288.
Pregnancies After the Diagnosis of Mild Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Risk of Cardiometabolic Disorders
Authors: Varner Michael W. , Rice Madeline Murguia , Landon Mark B. , Casey Brian M. , Reddy Uma M. , Wapner Ronald J. , Rouse Dwight J. , Tita Alan T. N. , Thorp John M. , Chien Edward K. , Saade George R. , Peaceman Alan M. , Blackwell Sean C. , Vandorsten J. Peter ,   for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network
Published: January 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the association of subsequent pregnancy with subsequent metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes mellitus after a pregnancy complicated by mild gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

METHODS:

We conducted a prospective observational follow-up study of women with mild GDM randomized from 2002 to 2007 to usual care or dietary intervention and glucose self-monitoring. Women were evaluated 5–10 years after the parent study. Participants were grouped according to the number of subsequent pregnancies (group A, none [reference]; group B, one; group C, two or greater). Serum triglycerides, glucose tolerance, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference were assessed. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed by American Heart Association and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute criteria. Multivariable regression was used to estimate adjusted relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS:

Of 905 eligible women from the original trial, 483 agreed to participate, 426 of whom were included in this analysis. Groups A, B, and C consisted of 212, 143, and 71 women, respectively. Of women with subsequent pregnancies, 32% (69/214) had another pregnancy complicated with GDM. No difference between groups was observed for metabolic syndrome (group A, 34%; group B, 33%; group C, 30%). Subsequent pregnancies were associated with diabetes mellitus outside of pregnancy (group A, 5.2%; group B, 10.5%, RR 2.62, 95% CI 1.16–5.91; group C, 11.3%, RR 2.83, 95% CI 1.06–7.59), and if complicated with GDM (no subsequent GDM pregnancy, RR 1.99, 95% CI 0.82–4.84; subsequent GDM pregnancy, RR 3.75, 95% CI 1.60–8.82).

CONCLUSION:

In women with prior mild GDM, subsequent pregnancies did not increase the frequency of metabolic syndrome, but subsequent pregnancies with GDM increased the risk of diabetes mellitus outside of pregnancy.
What Is New in Global Women's Health? (Part 2)
Authors: Autry Amy M. , Petersen Scott M.
Published: January 2017

This month we focus on current research in global women's health in obstetrics and gynecology. Drs. Autry and Petersen discuss six recent publications, which are concluded with a “bottom line” that is the take-home message. The complete reference for each can be found in Box 1 on this page, along with direct links to the abstracts.
Explaining How Cognitive Behavioral Approaches Work for Low Back Pain
Authors: Fordham Beth , Ji Chen , Hansen Zara , Lall Ranjit , Lamb Sarah E.
Published: January 2017

Study Design.

This is secondary research examining the longitudinal mediation effect within a structural equation model.

Objective.

To identify possible mechanisms that mediate the effects of a cognitive behavioral approach upon disability and pain in low back pain patients.

Summary of Background Data.

Cognitive behavioral interventions (CBIs) can improve pain and disability in low back pain (LBP) but the mechanisms of action are unclear. We used data from a large randomized controlled trial to investigate mediators of the treatment effect of CBI.

Methods.

Pain self-efficacy, fear avoidance, and physical and mental functioning were selected as candidate mediators based on the theoretical rationale of the intervention. The primary treatment outcomes were the Roland Morris Questionnaire (RMDQ) and the modified Von Korff scale (MVK pain and disability) at 12 months. We used structural equation models to estimate the contribution of mediators. All models were tested for goodness-of-fit using χ

2
, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index, and Bentler Comparative Fit Index.

Results.

We included 701 adults with LBP. The average RMDQ score at baseline for those on the intervention arm was 8.8 (Standard Deviation 5.0). The intervention was effective in reducing disability and pain at 12 months. Change in mental functioning was not a significant mediator. Changes to pain self-efficacy, fear avoidance, and physical functioning were causal mediators of the treatment effect at 12 months (RMDQ b= –0.149, P < 0.001; MVK-pain b = –0.181, P < 0.001 and MVK-disability b = –0.180, P < 0.001). Overall, the SEM model exceeded the threshold for acceptable goodness-of-fit.

Conclusion.

Fear avoidance and self-efficacy were important causal mediators of the cognitive behavioral treatment effect. Self-assessed change in physical function was a causal mediator but mental functioning was not. This suggests people need to experience meaningful change in physical function and beliefs but not in mental functioning associated with LBP, to achieve a treatment benefit.

Level of Evidence: 2
Prior Use of Calcium Channel Blockers Is Associated With Decreased Mortality in Critically Ill Patients With Sepsis: A Prospective Observational Study
Authors: Wiewel Maryse A. , van Vught Lonneke A. , Scicluna Brendon P. , Hoogendijk Arie J. , Frencken Jos F. , Zwinderman Aeilko H. , Horn Janneke , Cremer Olaf L. , Bonten Marc J. , Schultz Marcus J. , van der Poll Tom
Published: January 2017

Objectives:

Experimental studies suggest that calcium channel blockers can improve sepsis outcome. The aim of this study was to determine the association between prior use of calcium channel blockers and the outcome of patients admitted to the ICU with sepsis.

Design:

A prospective observational study.

Setting:

The ICUs of two tertiary care hospitals in the Netherlands.

Patients:

In total, 1,060 consecutive patients admitted with sepsis were analyzed, 18.6% of whom used calcium channel blockers.

Interventions:

None.

Measurements and Main Results:

Considering large baseline differences between calcium channel blocker users and nonusers, a propensity score matched cohort was constructed to account for differential likelihoods of receiving calcium channel blockers. Fifteen plasma biomarkers providing insight in key host responses implicated in sepsis pathogenesis were measured during the first 4 days after admission. Severity of illness over the first 24 hours, sites of infection and causative pathogens were similar in both groups. Prior use of calcium channel blockers was associated with improved 30-day survival in the propensity-matched cohort (20.2% vs 32.9% in non-calcium channel blockers users; p = 0.009) and in multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.31–0.74; p = 0.0007). Prior calcium channel blocker use was not associated with changes in the plasma levels of host biomarkers indicative of activation of the cytokine network, the vascular endothelium and the coagulation system, with the exception of antithrombin levels, which were less decreased in calcium channel blocker users.

Conclusions:

Prior calcium channel blocker use is associated with reduced mortality in patients following ICU admission with sepsis.
The Evaluation of Corneal Fragility After UVA/Riboflavin Crosslinking
Authors: Li Zhiwei , Wang Yumeng , Xu Yanyun , Jhanji Vishal , Zhang Chunxiao , Mu Guoying
Published: January 2017

Purpose:

To evaluate the fragility of cornea after UVA/riboflavin crosslinking (CXL).

Methods:

Sixty New Zealand rabbits received UVA/riboflavin crosslinking treatment (wavelength 365 nm, irradiance 3.0 mW/cm2, and total dose 5.4 J/cm2) on right eyes. Animals were sacrificed before and immediately after treatment (day 0), day 1, 3, 7, and 28 after treatment. A 4×10 mm corneal strip for biomechanical evaluation was harvested after sacrifice. The corneal fragility was evaluated by measurement of elongation rate, whereby the elongation rate equals elongation length/baseline length.

Results:

The Youngs modulus and maximal stress were 1.41±0.51 MPa and 5.56±1.84 MPa before CXL, and increased to 2.31±0.68 MPa (P=0.008) and 9.25±2.74 MPa (P=0.04), respectively, on day 0, then maintained a stable level within a 28 days follow-up. The elongation rate was 62.04±9.34% before CXL and decreased to 48.95%±8.24% (P=0.02) on day 0, then maintained a stable level within a 28 days follow-up.

Conclusions:

This study showed an increase in the corneal fragility after UVA/riboflavin crosslinking along with an increase in the corneal stiffness. A long-term follow-up should be taken to evaluate the potential deleterious effect of the increasing corneal fragility after UVA/riboflavin crosslinking.
Middle-Ear Sound Transmission Under Normal, Damaged, Repaired, and Reconstructed Conditions
Authors: Dong Wei , Tian Ying , Gao Xin , Jung Timothy T. K.
Published: January 2017

Hypothesis:

We hypothesize that current clinical treatment strategies for the disarticulated or eroded incus have the effect of combining the incus and stapes of the human middle ear (ME) into one rigid structure, which, while capable of adequately transmitting lower-frequency sounds, fails for higher frequencies.

Background:

ME damage causes conductive hearing loss (CHL) and while great progress has been made in repairing or reconstructing damaged MEs, the outcomes are often far from ideal.

Methods:

Temporal bones (TBs) from human cadavers, a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV), and a fiber-optic based micro-pressure sensor were used to characterize ME transmission under various ME conditions: normal; with a disarticulated incus; repaired using medical glue; or reconstructed using a partial ossicular replacement prosthesis (PORP).

Results:

Repairing the disarticulated incus using medical glue, or replacing the incus using a commercial PORP, provided similar restoration of ME function including almost perfect function at frequencies below 4 kHz, but with more than a 20-dB loss at higher frequencies. Associated phase responses under these conditions sometimes varied and seemed dependent on the degree of coupling of the PORP to the remaining ME structure. A new ME-prosthesis design may be required to allow the stapes to move in three-dimensional (3-D) space to correct this deficiency at higher frequencies.

Conclusions:

Fixation of the incus to the stapes or ossicular reconstruction using a PORP limited the efficiency of sound transmission at high frequencies.