bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Tofogliflozin (a Selective SGLT2 Inhibitor) in Healthy Male Subjects
Authors: Kasahara-Ito Nahoko , Fukase Hiroyuki , Ogama Yoichiro , Saito Tomohisa , Ohba Yasuhiro , Shimada Sumire , Takano Yasuki , Ichihara Tomoko , Terao Kimio , Nakamichi Noboru , Kumagai Yuji , Ikeda Sachiya
Published: April 2017

Tofogliflozin is a selective oral inhibitor of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of tofogliflozin were investigated in healthy male subjects.

Three studies were conducted: single-ascending dose study (10–640 mg) in 56 Japanese and 24 Caucasian subjects; multiple-ascending dose study (2.5–80 mg once daily for 7 days) in 24 Japanese subjects; and food-effect study (20–40 mg) in 30 Japanese subjects.

Tofogliflozin was absorbed rapidly and eliminated from the systemic circulation with a t1/2 of 5–6 h. Exposure increased dose-proportionally up to 320 mg. Body weight-corrected exposure was similar between Japanese and Caucasian subjects. Urinary excretion of tofogliflozin ranged from 17.1 to 27.4% of dose. Tofogliflozin did not accumulate with once daily administration. Food intake decreased Cmax by approximately 30% but did not change AUC0-inf. Tofogliflozin caused dose-dependent daily urinary glucose excretion (UGE0-24h), but food intake condition at administration did not affect it. The exposure-response relationship between plasma average concentration of tofogliflozin (Cavg) and UGE0-24h fitted Emax model well. There were no serious adverse events leading to discontinuation or episodes of hypoglycemia.

Single and multiple administration of tofogliflozin were generally well tolerated. Exposure to tofogliflozin was dose-proportional up to 320 mg and did not accumulate with multiple once-a-day administration. The model suggests more than 100 ng/mL Cavg corresponding to the dose of between 20 and 40 mg leads to almost maximum effect of tofogliflozin.
Reproductive biology of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the western North Pacific Ocean
Authors: Fujinami Yuki , Semba Yasuko , Okamoto Hiroaki , Ohshimo Seiji , Tanaka Sho
Published: April 2017

The reproductive biology of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the western North Pacific Ocean was investigated to contribute to future stock assessments because of limitations of recent studies and the lack of information about the reproductive cycle. Reproductive data were obtained from 490 males (precaudal length (PCL), 33.4–252.0cm) and 432 females (PCL, 33.4–243.3cm). Size at 50% maturity was estimated to be 160.9cm for males and 156.6cm PCL for females. Litter size varied from 15 to 112 (mean 35.5) and was positively correlated with maternal PCL. Parturition, ovulation and mating occurred sequentially from spring to summer. The gestation period was estimated to be 11 months. The ovarian follicles of pregnant females developed synchronously throughout the gestation period along with embryonic growth, indicating that females reproduce annually. Our results showed that the productivity of North Pacific blue sharks is higher than previously thought, based on larger fecundity and a shorter reproductive cycle. These new findings will improve future stock assessments and provide management advice.
A review of challenges to determining and demonstrating efficiency of large fire management
Authors: Thompson Matthew P. , Rodríguez y Silva Francisco , Calkin David E. , Hand Michael S.
Published: April 2017

Characterising the impacts of wildland fire and fire suppression is critical information for fire management decision-making. Here, we focus on decisions related to the rare larger and longer-duration fire events, where the scope and scale of decision-making can be far broader than initial response efforts, and where determining and demonstrating efficiency of strategies and actions can be particularly troublesome. We organise our review around key decision factors such as context, complexity, alternatives, consequences and uncertainty, and for illustration contrast fire management in Andalusia, Spain, and Montana, USA. Two of the largest knowledge gaps relate to quantifying fire impacts to ecosystem services, and modelling relationships between fire management activities and avoided damages. The relative magnitude of these and other concerns varies with the complexity of the socioecological context in which fire management decisions are made. To conclude our review, we examine topics for future research, including expanded use of the economics toolkit to better characterise the productivity and effectiveness of suppression actions, integration of ecosystem modelling with economic principles, and stronger adoption of risk and decision analysis within fire management decision-making.
4. War for independence
Authors: Allison Robert J.
Published: April 2017

‘War for independence’ explains the strategies of the British under Generals John Burgoyne and Charles Cornwallis and of Washington's American army. In February 1778, King Louis XVI of France recognized the independence of the United States and pledged to fight against the British. France sent men and arms to America; more ominously for Britain, it could also attack the West Indies and even England. Spain declared war on England in April 1779, not to help Americans but to retake Gibraltar and weaken Britain in the West Indies and North America. Independence was finally achieved in 1783, but could the new nation create a government that would sustain independence, preserve individual liberty, and repay its debts?
2. A brief history of American political parties
Authors: Maisel L. Sandy
Published: April 2017

‘A brief history of American political parties’ traces the development of US politics from the initial emergence of parties as the Founders differed on policies they believed served the nation's interests. The modern Democratic Party has transformed from its early manifestation as the Democratic-Republican Party, while the Republican Party was formed as a result of the division over slavery and eclipsed earlier parties, including the National Republicans and Whigs, as the major alternative to the Democrats. Despite party changes, the election process remains the same; it is still about organizing, understanding the rules and the voters, and knowing how to appeal to the voters most efficiently under the rules.
1. Inventing the presidency
Authors: Jones Charles O.
Published: April 2017

The creative work involved in writing the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia in 1787 has been interpreted and invoked in political and policy debate ever since. “Inventing the presidency” considers how the Founders of the United States tried to create unity in a separated system. Why was the title of president selected? What was the role of president going to look like? How long should the single executive serve? Providing a legislative or lawmaking role for the president was the subject of considerable debate at the beginning. Inventors solve problems: they tinker until they have a workable device. The creation of the presidency was a process of trial and error.
3. Electing presidents (and other ways to occupy the Oval Office)
Authors: Jones Charles O.
Published: April 2017

The design of the executive leadership helped shape the opportunities and establish the boundaries of presidential power. Would it work? “Electing presidents” looks at how the system of electing presidents developed and adapted and shows that constitutional construction and history were on the side of maintaining the unique method designed by the Founders. There were many initial questions to be ironed out: Who would be the candidates? Would there be political parties? What would be the relationship between presidential and vice-presidential selection? Political parties function first and foremost to organize elections. The strength of parties is measured by their capacity to adapt to regional differences, regulations, and voter policy preferences.
6. Presidents at work: making law and doing policy
Authors: Jones Charles O.
Published: April 2017

How powerful ought the president to be? The role of president is one of decision maker. Presidents have to balance what is expected with what can be delivered. The Founders ensured that making decisions was to be a joint enterprise. “Presidents at work: making law and doing policy” considers how this joint enterprise works: Congress can pass bills, the president signs them into law; presidents negotiate treaties, but two-thirds of the Senate must approve; the Supreme Court can negate a law, but Congress and the president can achieve their purpose by enacting a law that avoids the issue raised by the Court. Despite all this, the president is held accountable for what happens in government.
2. Historical development and contemporary concerns
Authors: Clapham Andrew
Published: April 2017

The content of human rights is usually understood by reference to the legal catalogue of human rights we find developed through international texts. ‘Historical development and contemporary concerns’ examines the key text for human rights today—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights—adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. Since that time many treaties and intergovernmental Declarations have supplemented this proclamation of rights. The treaties are best viewed as providing a framework against which we can legitimately judge the performance of governments. How did this human rights catalogue come about? What roles did the League of Nations and Second World War play?
4. Torture
Authors: Clapham Andrew
Published: April 2017

The prohibition on torture in the UN Convention against Torture is described in absolute terms, but torture continues around the world. What is the purpose of torture? How has it changed through history? ‘Torture’ focuses on three issues: torture in the ‘war on terror’; information gleaned from torture; and the prohibition on sending anyone to a country where there is a strong likelihood of them being tortured. Are some incidents of torture or ill-treatment justified to avert a terrorist attack? How can a country’s assurance that a citizen will not be tortured on their return be monitored?
9. The death penalty
Authors: Clapham Andrew
Published: April 2017

Attitudes with regard to what constitutes a human rights issue change over time. Is the death penalty a human rights issue? If we believe that torture and inhuman punishment is absolutely prohibited, then the ultimate irrevocable punishment of execution should also be prohibited at least as a form of inhuman punishment. ‘The death penalty’ considers how the human rights treaties that allow for the death penalty have been interpreted to include procedural safeguards, limits on which crimes may be punished with a death sentence, who may be executed, and prohibitions on certain forms of execution where the death penalty is still used around the world today.
2. Sensing and responding
Authors: Wyatt Tristram D.
Published: April 2017

How an animal behaves is coordinated by nerves and hormones in different, complementary ways. Stimuli, such as the sound of a predator, cause fast behavioural responses coordinated by nerve signals. The stimuli also cause longer lasting physiological changes via hormones, which release energy sources needed for the muscle action required for escape. ‘Sensing and responding’ considers the sensory responses of bats and moths, and then explains selective sensitivity—how animals evolve to detect only what affects their survival or reproductive success. It also shows how the study of neural circuits in simple model systems, such as sea slugs, can help us understand more complicated behaviours in other animals.
1. The fly in the cathedral
Authors: Close Frank
Published: April 2017

‘The fly in the cathedral’ charts the discovery of the nuclear atom and the start of modern atomic and nuclear physics. It began in 1895 with the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen and radioactivity by Henri Becquerel. In 1897, J.J. Thomson discovered the electron and realised they were common to all atoms, which implied that atoms have an internal structure. Negatively-charged electrons are bound to positively-charged entities within the atom, but what carries this positive charge and how is it distributed? It was Ernest Rutherford, in 1911, who announced his solution: all of an atom’s positive charge and most of its mass are contained in a compact nucleus at the centre.
8. Applied nuclear physics
Authors: Close Frank
Published: April 2017

Nuclear physics is a rich and active field. The large amounts of latent energy within the nuclei of atoms can be liberated in nuclear reactors. Together with nuclear weapons, this is the most familiar application of nuclear physics, but ‘Applied nuclear physics’ provides a summary of other applications to industry, medical science, and human health. The phenomenon of natural radioactivity provides beams of particles, which may be used to initiate other nuclear reactions, or to attack tumours in cancer treatment. Forensics via induced radioactivity, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) scans are also described.
5. Bollywood
Authors: Rajadhyaksha Ashish
Published: April 2017

Indian cinema has historically assumed that its enormous local impact disqualifies it from imagining an audience beyond the domestic one. ‘Bollywood’ explains, however, that there has been—and still is—an elusive fugitive, global audience. But why are only 15–17 per cent of Indian films commercially successful? Who is making all the money? The criminal underworld of Bollywood is described along with the attempts to clean up the industry. An important marker occurred in 2006, when the very character of the Indian state appeared to have been transformed, and with it, its attitude to its cinema industry. It was important that India’s ambitions for globalizing its economy coincided with the digital revolution.
Endings
Authors: van Es Bart
Published: April 2017

Did Shakespeare write any comic plays after All’s Well That Ends Well (1604–5)? The conventional story has been that Shakespeare’s comedy ended early in the 17th century, despite having almost a decade of writing for the theatre still to come. If this theory is accepted, what factors can be put forward by way of explanation? ‘Endings’ argues that Shakespeare had a more consistent idea of what comedy was than is now often asserted. Comedy was his mainstay, spreading not just across the eighteen or so plays that can be listed under that heading but, beyond this, into his non-dramatic poetry, his histories, and—most powerfully of all—his tragedies.
1. Identical outsides … different insides
Authors: Ellam Rob
Published: April 2017

‘Identical outsides … different insides’ describes the isotopes of hydrogen (protium, deuterium, tritium) and carbon (carbon-12, carbon-13, carbon-14). The isotopes exist due to an extra particle (neutron) or two in the element’s nucleus, which adds extra mass to the atom. Tritium and carbon-14 are both unstable and undergo radioactive decay. There are four types of radioactive decay: α, β, γ (alpha, beta, gamma), and spontaneous fission. Radioactive decay is the process whereby the nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emission of ionizing radiation. The rate of the radioactive decay is measured by the ‘half-life’—the time needed for half the radioactive isotopes of a substance to decay.
5. Physics heal thyself
Authors: Ellam Rob
Published: April 2017

Stable and radioactive isotopes are used extensively in diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications including studies of human body composition, energy balance, protein turnover, and metabolism. ‘Physics heal thyself: isotopes in medicine’ shows how ionizing radiation is key to a host of medical imaging techniques with radioactive isotopes widely used to target and kill cancer cells. Enriched isotopes are used as biological tracers; doubly labelled water in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes; and 13C-labelled urea in diagnosing stomach and duodenal ulcers. Medical uses of ionizing radiation are manifold including X-ray imaging, radiotherapy with external X-ray beams, brachytherapy, targeted radionuclide therapy, single photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography.
6. Measuring isotopes
Authors: Ellam Rob
Published: April 2017

Mass spectrometers have become routine laboratory instruments in many disciplines. ‘Measuring isotopes: mass spectrometers’ concentrates on those used to quantify the abundance of different isotopes—gas source isotope ratio, thermal ionization, inductively coupled plasma, and secondary ion mass spectrometers. A mass spectrometer can be used to quantify the concentration of a particular element by monitoring an isotope of that element not overlapped by isotopes of other elements. All mass spectrometers have three essential components: an ion source, a mass filter, and a detector. There are two main types of detector: Faraday detectors measure large signals and a variant of photomultiplier tubes measures small isotope signals.
1. The early milestones
Authors: Divan Aysha , Royds Janice A.
Published: April 2017

Molecular biology is the story of the molecules of life, their relationships, and how these interactions are controlled. ‘Early milestones’ first explores two key ideas in the early history of molecular biology that provided inspiration at the start of the hunt for the molecular nature of the transmissible factors that provide continuity of life: evolution by natural selection as proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace; and Gregor Mendel’s work on heritable factors. The evolution of ideas and the development of techniques that led to the key finding of the double helix structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 are also described.
4. Proteins
Authors: Divan Aysha , Royds Janice A.
Published: April 2017

Biological functions require protein and the protein makeup of a cell determines its behaviour and identity. Proteins, therefore, are the most abundant molecules in the body except for water. The approximately 20,000 protein coding genes in the human genome can, by alternative splicing, multiple translation starts, and post-translational modifications, produce over 1,000,000 different proteins, collectively called ‘the proteome’. It is the size of the proteome and not the genome that defines the complexity of an organism. ‘Proteins’ describes the composition and structure of proteins and how they are studied. What information is required in order to understand how proteins work and what happens when this function is impaired in disease?
Introduction. Theories of Myth
Authors: Segal Robert A.
Published: April 2017

The ‘Introduction’ examines and compares modern theories of myth by applying them to the famous myth of Adonis. It is only in the modern era—specifically, only since the second half of the nineteenth century—that these theories have purported to be scientific, for only since then have there existed the social sciences. Of these, anthropology, psychology, and sociology have contributed the most to the study of myth. Each discipline harbours multiple theories of myth, but what unites them is the questions asked: those of origin, function, and subject matter. Is myth universal? Is myth true? Along with these other questions, it defines myth as a story.
1. What is antisemitism?
Authors: Beller Steven
Published: April 2017

Is antisemitism a hatred of Jews that has stretched across millennia and across continents? Is it a relatively modern political movement that arose in Central Europe during the late 19th century? Or is it an irrational, psychologically pathological version of ethnocentric or religiocentric anti-Judaism that originated in old conflicts between Jews and Christians? ‘What is antisemitism?’ looks at the origins and meaning of antisemitism and considers how its ideological claims became integrated into European and Western political, but also social, intellectual, and cultural, life, and how the particular Central European context enabled it to lead into the Holocaust.
3. The Chosen People
Authors: Beller Steven
Published: April 2017

In the century before antisemitism emerged as a powerful political movement in the early 1880s, European Jewry had been through a radical transformation. ‘The Chosen People’ looks at developments around that time to help explain the path antisemitism took. Modernization of the European economy, society, and political systems from the mid-17th century onwards added to radical changes in thought and attitudes towards Jews. They needed to be integrated into society, and how to do this became known as the ‘Jewish Question’. Attempts to solve the ‘Jewish Question’ were more successful in Western Europe than in Russia and Central Europe. But Jewish difference persisted, partially explaining the political force of antisemitism.
7. Consequences
Authors: Beller Steven
Published: April 2017

The shift from persecution and expulsion of Jews to industrially organized genocide marked a dramatic escalation of Nazi policy. ‘Consequences’ shows that central to any explanation for the Holocaust was the intentionalist and ideological motivation of the extreme racial antisemitism of Hitler and the Nazi leadership; but another vital enabling factor was the more functionalist role of self-interested instrumental rationality, or opportunism, and lack of resistance of the German populace. Nazi antisemitic policies proceeded by default. The Holocaust was enabled by many modern elements: bureaucratic efficiency, rational organization, anonymity, economic incentivization, and the employment of various technological innovations.
8. After Auschwitz
Authors: Beller Steven
Published: April 2017

‘After Auschwitz’ looks at the post-Holocaust world and analyses how antisemitism came to be discredited and exposed as fraud. Nationalism is regarded as the most potent source of the prejudice, intolerance, and hatred of ‘the other’ that is the basis of antisemitism and other racial and group hatreds, but what should succeed it as the dominant form of modern social and political organization? The answer to antisemitism is ultimately not a Jewish state, but the establishment of a truly global system of liberal pluralism. The recent rise in xenophobic nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism in Europe and the Middle East, and increase of antisemitic incidents, suggests this is far from decided.
4. Turban, Khalsa, and codes of conduct
Authors: Nesbitt Eleanor
Published: April 2017

The turban has become synonymous with Sikhism, despite the fact that many men who identify themselves as Sikh are short-haired, clean shaven, and turbanless. ‘Turban, Khalsa, and codes of conduct’ sets the turban and the sword—the ‘Sikh look’—in historical context. This image of Sikhs came from Guru Gobind Singh’s call for conspicuous loyalty among his followers, the Khalsa, in the turbulent 18th century. Guru Gobind Singh instructed his followers to adopt the ‘Five Ks’. What were the ‘Five Ks’ and how do they relate to Sikhism today? How do Sikhs view issues of warfare, behaviour, martyrdom, and diet? Debates on these issues have shaped modern Sikhism.
7. Attitudes to caste, gender, and other faiths
Authors: Nesbitt Eleanor
Published: April 2017

The film Bend it Like Beckham (2002) illustrated effectively gender issues in the Sikh religion and how they are viewed in comparison to gender issues outside of Sikhism. ‘Attitudes to caste, gender, and other faiths’ looks at these themes and relates them to discussion of Punjabi cultural norms, insights of the Gurus, and the legacy of Guru Gobind Singh in both the Khalsa and the Dasam Granth. It also considers the strictures of successive rahit-namas and the reformist project of the Singh Sabha, plus more recent developments, especially in the diaspora. These sets of issues belong together in any discussion of Sikhs’ resounding claims that the Panth is egalitarian.
4. Recreational drugs
Authors: Iversen Les
Published: April 2017

‘Recreational drugs’ explores the origins, mechanisms, and criminalization of many widely used drugs. Many recreational drugs are legal including alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, which are all widely available. Other drugs are controlled by law. Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug, but some people advocate its use in pain relief. Likewise, amphetamines have been used as decongestants and in treating ADHD, but its criminalization led to the development of designer drugs such as ecstasy. Heroin and cocaine are considered as harder drugs that carry many more risks to users and society. Many Western countries have strict drug laws, but there are moves in some countries to legalize or decriminalize cannabis.
6. What can we expect in the future?
Authors: Iversen Les
Published: April 2017

‘What can we expect in the future?’ considers changing attitudes to drugs in the 21st century, the current pharmaceutical industry, and the rise of personalized medicines as a result of a greater understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of diseases and lower costs of DNA sequencing. Public attitudes to both medicinal and recreational drugs are changing: the easy availability of information and misinformation on the Internet is affecting vaccination rates in children, patients are researching new drugs, and there is a growing movement towards legalizing cannabis. The escalating costs of new medicines often makes them too expensive for most European health services and out of reach of developing countries.
2. Who is a migrant?
Authors: Koser Khalid
Published: April 2017

‘Who is a migrant?’ looks at defining and measuring migration. Migrants can be categorized, based on whether they migrated voluntarily or involuntarily, whether they are economic or political migrants, or their legal status. These categories, while somewhat useful, tend to blur in reality, and the situation migrants find themselves in can change quickly. It is difficult to measure migration for a number of reasons, and any statistics produced are open to misuse. People can stop being migrants by returning to their own country or by obtaining citizenship of the host country. National policies on migration and citizenship balance assimilation with multiculturalism. Migrant communities often form diasporas and maintain transnational attachments.
4. Migration and development
Authors: Koser Khalid
Published: April 2017

‘Migration and development’ assesses the effect of migration on development in origin countries. The main benefit to origin nations is remittance of money back to migrants’ families. This is hard to quantify, but the World Bank estimates that in 2015 some US$586 billion was sent home by migrants worldwide. Remittance directly benefits the recipient family, but it can also have a detrimental effect on society at large, and encourage a culture of migration. Diasporas can coordinate remittance, and also give migrants a say in their native political systems. On the negative side, migration can deplete countries of skills that are in short supply through the ‘brain drain’.
2. How psychoanalysis began
Authors: Pick Daniel
Published: April 2017

Psychoanalysis emerged between the 1880s and 1900s. Its origins can be traced to many sources, but mostly to the work of Sigmund Freud. ‘How psychoanalysis began’ considers, in turn, Freud’s work on hysteria using hypnosis; his focus on patients’ fears and phantasies; his interest in the interaction of mind and social circumstance (‘inner’ and ‘outer’ realities); his publication The Interpretation of Dreams, which proposed that the dreaming state can provide access to more forbidden thoughts, as there is a partial release from censorship; the ‘primary process’; Freudian slips; how sexuality involves a host of different feelings that may be enjoyed, endured, subdued, or displaced; and the experiences of infancy and childhood.
5. Analytic space, time, and technique
Authors: Pick Daniel
Published: April 2017

A patient may have spent years building defences against areas of anxiety and psychic pain; getting past them may take some time. To facilitate analysis, Freud proposed use of a fixed duration (the session) and reliable, regular location (the consulting room) ensuring privacy. ‘Analytic space, time, and technique’ explores features of time, space, and distance in this unusual setting, and highlights technique. It considers how analysts work, some dos, don’ts, and divisive experiments, and answers several questions: why are treatments often fixed-time sessions? Why do patients lie down on a couch during treatment? Why do analysts need to be patients? And how long should analysis last?
8. Unconscious dramas
Authors: Pick Daniel
Published: April 2017

‘Unconscious dramas’ considers the ideas of transference, counter-transference, and enactment. Technique in analysis has increasingly been modelled around the recognition and exploration of transference, which may be used too formulaically, or even abused. The term ‘counter-transference’ means the feelings or even behaviour unconsciously induced or amplified in an analyst by the actions of a particular patient. Enactment, or ‘actualization’, is used to describe those moments in analysis when something is unconsciously happening between the participants. It concludes with a summary of a case involving analyst Peter Giovacchini and an assessment by another analyst, Priscilla Roth, who proposes four levels of interpretation.
9. The struggle is not yet over
Authors: Pick Daniel
Published: April 2017

‘The struggle is not yet over’ provides further thoughts on the achievements, difficulties, impact, controversy, and possible political relevance of the analytic approach. Analysis is both an intensely private encounter and a public conversation that has by now gone on for more than a hundred years. Psychoanalysis—the talking cure—has been attacked for being unscientific, or worse a pseudo-science, but perhaps it needs to remain on the cusp of science and art. The field continues to evolve, open to innovation and development, not only in the consulting room but also in its other applications, such as therapeutic work in schools or with families and groups. Psychoanalysis is, in short, a continuing work in progress.
1. What was Byzantium?
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: April 2017

‘What was Byzantium?’ explains the creation of the Christian Empire that ruled for over a thousand years from the great city of Constantinople. It describes the evolution of the Roman Empire under the rule of Diocletian and the rise of Constantine resulting in his settling in the eastern city of Byzantion, which he renamed in his honour. Constantine’s dynasty forged a complex culture and society. It drew together the aristocracy of service of the eastern Mediterranean into a single political community, increasingly united by a sense of Roman political identity, Greek ‘high culture’, Christian faith, and, crucially, bound together by the Constantinopolitan focus of their political ambitions.
5. Strategies for survival
Authors: Sarris Peter
Published: April 2017

‘Strategies for survival’ outlines the effectiveness, pragmatism, and creativity of Byzantine statecraft from the 7th century through to the early 10th century, which saw the empire’s ability to surmount its early medieval crisis and begin to reassert imperial power to both east and west. The imperial authorities had managed to rapidly reorientate themselves in a fast-changing strategic landscape, and alter diplomatic and military priorities accordingly. The adoption of allies to contain or contest military reversals was key, as was the conversion to imperial Christianity of neighbouring peoples. The ‘Macedonian dynasty’ is explained along with the Christian Crusades against Islam, and the Fourth Crusade in 1204 that resulted in the sacking of Constantinople.
8. Military lawyering
Authors: Fidell Eugene R.
Published: April 2017

‘Military lawyering’ shows that increasingly, national military justice systems look much like civilian criminal trials with military or civilian lawyers acting as judges and other lawyers prosecuting and defending. In the United States, most military lawyering is done by lawyers who are commissioned officers, organized in many national systems into a Judge Advocate General’s Corps, department, or branch. In addition, civilian lawyers may play a role, either as military judges in some systems, or as defense counsel retained by the accused. The different judiciary roles are outlined along with potential problem areas. In the United States, each branch of the armed forces maintains a professional responsibility program and has regulations governing the conduct of counsel.
11. Peering ahead
Authors: Fidell Eugene R.
Published: April 2017

What about the future? What new legal challenges can we expect given the strong likelihood of continuing military operations around the world, coupled with increased across-the-board austerity in government operations? What changes in military justice may flow from technological innovation and changing expectations of fairness? ‘Peering ahead’ concludes that military justice is generally change-averse. Despite this, major reforms in the field of military justice around the globe can be anticipated. Change is also likely to be fostered as a result of broad national adherence to human rights instruments. Finally, some suggestions are provided for how military justice in the United States could be changed for the better.
1. A very short history of melancholia
Authors: Tacchi Mary Jane , Scott Jan
Published: April 2017

In ancient times, ‘melancholia’ rather than ‘depression’ was used to describe mood disorders characterized by despondency. ‘A very short history of melancholia’ highlights the descriptions of melancholia and theories about its causes that held sway from ancient times until about the 19th century. It begins with Hippocrates’ black bile theory in the 4th century bc. From about ad 500 there was a shift away from the notion that mental disorders had similar causes to physical ones and a revival of beliefs that mental disorders were signs of immorality, sin, and evil. From the 1500s new attitudes towards melancholia emerged. The birth of modern psychiatry in the 19th century is also described.
1. The atmosphere
Authors: Dunlop Storm
Published: April 2017

‘The atmosphere’ describes the different layers of the atmosphere and the boundaries between them—troposphere, tropopause, stratosphere, mesopause, mesosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere—and explains why temperature generally declines with increased altitude: a decrease in pressure causes a parcel of air to expand and cool. The change in temperature with altitude is known as the lapse rate and any decrease or increase in lapse rate is known as an inversion. The inversion at the top of the troposphere is a major feature, always present in the atmosphere. The measuring and charting of atmospheric pressure using barometers is described along with the composition of the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect is explained.
1. Babies and what they know
Authors: Goswami Usha
Published: April 2017

‘Babies and what they know’ explores the early development of children both before birth and during the first stage of childhood, focusing in particular on the importance of interaction. The child starts to learn even before it is born. After birth, babies are capable of learning a great deal from facial cues and the sound of language. They seem fascinated by the human face. This intrinsic interest in faces and eyes has been linked to how we acquire language. Studies on imitation, joint attention, and socio-moral expectations have shown that infants and toddlers start to develop psychological understanding early on.
2. Peace in history
Authors: Richmond Oliver P.
Published: April 2017

‘Peace in history’ considers the significance of violence for contemporary international relations by looking at different forms and key dimensions of peace in history. A common historical belief is that humanity is unable to fulfil its potential without peace. As well as there being a ‘will to power’ there is also a ‘will to peace’. There will always be a need for conflict and a need for peace. The historic evolution of peace has moved from a negative and narrow version to a positive and broad notion of peace. It has evolved as an aspiration and a fact, emerging from alliances, social movements, and institutions as well as political, social, and economic philosophical thinking.
Introduction
Authors: Shepherd-Barr Kirsten E.
Published: April 2017

Modern drama is often characterized by alienation and hostility, whether it’s between the actors and their audiences, the playwright and the actors, or the playwright and the audience. The Introduction explains how this VSI takes as its starting point this sense of opposition, breaking with convention, and moving into a new relationship with the audience to explore modern drama and the changing nature of theatrical experience. It looks at how playwrights, directors, actors, and designers question, pull apart, and even attack the very medium they are working in, in order to reassemble and refashion it. The major developments of modern drama are covered, from early modernist theatre in the 1880s through post-war developments to the present day.
6. Universals (Avicenna and Abelard)
Authors: Marenbon John
Published: April 2017

There is a core question about universals, which perplexed ancient and medieval thinkers, and still exercises philosophers today. Some things in the world are the same, not by being numerically identical but by being the same in some respect. Is it enough simply to suppose that there are these particular things which are the same in these respects, or is there some additional entity, besides the particular things—a universal—in respect of which they are the same? ‘Universals (Avicenna and Abelard)’ considers the problem of universals in antiquity; early medieval realism; the views of Avicenna and Abelard on universals; Duns Scotus, who transformed Avicenna’s solution; and the nominalism of William of Ockham.
10. Why medieval philosophy?
Authors: Marenbon John
Published: April 2017

‘Why medieval philosophy?’ considers why anyone should be bothered to learn about medieval philosophy. Very few people—philosophers and non-philosophers alike—do know much about this period of philosophy, but since it is now clear that there was a great deal of excellent philosophy written in the Middle Ages, is there not as much reason to learn about it as to learn about excellent philosophy from any other period? Medieval philosophy shows that the history of philosophy cannot be understood apart from the history of religions, not just because this is true for the time it covers, but because it points to how philosophy and religion were intertwined before then, and for long afterwards.
9. Novel
Authors: Allen William
Published: April 2017

‘Novel’ discusses the ancient novel, a relative latecomer to Greek and Latin literature. Starting with the five surviving examples of the Greek novel, dating from the mid-1st century ad onwards, it considers the popular appeal of their typical motifs of love and adventure, and sees their increasingly sophisticated narrative techniques. How the social and political values embodied in these Greek prose fictions related to those of their audiences, both Greek and Roman, under Roman imperial rule is also examined. The manipulation and parody of generic convention found in the Greek novels is even more central to the Latin novels of Petronius (c.50s–60s ad) and Apuleius (c.ad 150–180).
5. The makers of theatre
Authors: Carlson Marvin
Published: April 2017

As soon as one human being stands up before others and pretends to be something or someone else, both acting and theatre are created. However, one of the most distinctive features of theatre is the wide variety of people usually involved in its creation. Even though the playwright often works alone, when his or her play is converted into theatre, an entire group of other contributors is required. ‘The makers of theatre’ examines the role of the other contributors—actors, puppets, designers, directors, and the audience—and considers what they bring or have brought to the theatre in different eras of history and different parts of the world.
1. A house of many mansions
Authors: Freeden Michael
Published: April 2017

‘A house of many mansions’ shows that to understand liberalism you must recognize that there are various ways of looking at it. Liberalism is an ideology that contains seven political concepts that interact at its core: liberty, rationality, individuality, progress, sociability, the general interest, and limited and accountable power. These core elements are the nucleus around which all liberalisms revolve. Different forms of liberalism are discussed before concluding that liberalism has been adopted by truth-seekers, endorsed by humanists, campaigned for by reformers, cast aside by rival ideologies, deliberately misappropriated by those who wish to disguise their real political intentions, and attacked by those who regard it as a self-deluding smoke screen for anti-social conduct.
5. Movers and shakers
Authors: Blockley David
Published: April 2017

What do a jumbo jet, a cruise ship, a long span bridge, and a tall skyscraper have in common? They are, in essence, gigantic tubes or boxes that act as beams. ‘Movers and shakers’ examines the commonalities and differences between these four types of large, impressive, moving structures to reveal much about their main functions, the forces they must resist, and the ways in which they have to be strong. It shows that structures can be in dynamic equilibrium, i.e. connected structural parts moving as one whole structure. But two extra internal forces—inertia and damping—must be considered. There are also several complex forms of instability including buckling, resonance and flutter.
1. What is the welfare state?
Authors: Garland David
Published: April 2017

There are three general conceptions used for the welfare state: the first characterizes the welfare state as welfare for the poor; the second focuses on social insurance, social rights, and social services; and the third highlights economic management and the role that the ‘government of the economy’ plays in every welfare state. ‘What is the welfare state?’ explains that welfare states are varied, complex, and difficult to define. There is no simple theory that clearly expresses what they do, no simple vision that neatly captures what they are for. The welfare state is a damage-limiting, problem-solving device rather than anyone’s ideal social relationship.
5. Varieties
Authors: Garland David
Published: April 2017

Every developed country has a distinctive welfare state of its own. Welfare states generally rely on the same basic institutions, but these institutions can operate in different ways. Welfare state programmes are government programmes, but while public authority is necessary to establish, fund, and regulate these programmes, the nature of government involvement varies. Three worlds of welfare have been identified: social democratic; conservative; and liberal. ‘Varieties’ describes the welfare state regimes that developed in Sweden, Germany, and the USA, each of which exemplifies one of these ‘worlds’ of welfare. It goes on to consider briefly the welfare regimes beyond the ‘three worlds’ and how Britain’s welfare regime has changed over time.
9. The indispensable welfare state
Authors: Garland David
Published: April 2017

‘The indispensable welfare state’ concludes that the welfare state is a fundamental dimension of modern government, integral to the economic functioning and social health of capitalist societies. Welfare regimes can take various forms, and can be more or less effective, but a welfare state of some description is a vital part of any modern nation. The last hundred years show that welfare state government can succeed in civilizing and democratizing the stupendous power of capitalist enterprise. Critics describe the welfare state as a hindrance to economic and social vitality, but this VSI suggests the exact contrary: that the welfare state is an essential means of sustaining that vitality.
4. Geopolitics and identity
Authors: Dodds Klaus
Published: April 2017

The notion of geopolitics is bound up very closely with ideas of national identity. ‘Geopolitics and identity’ suggests that the relationship between geopolitics and identity is complex, depending on a range of local, regional, national, and trans-national imaginations and interactions. The forming and revising of national identities is a creative process and is inherently geographical. In countries such as Argentina, territorial grievances and uncertainties over international boundaries are held to jeopardize claims to national identity. The European Union has come under greater stress in more recent years as two issues – economic austerity and immigration control – increasingly dominate relationships not only within the EU, but also with proximate regions such as North Africa.
6. Popular geopolitics
Authors: Dodds Klaus
Published: April 2017

‘Popular geopolitics’ considers films, magazines, television, the Internet, and radio and the way in which they contribute to the circulation of geopolitical images and representations of territory, resources, and identity. One area of particular interest is post-9/11 cinema and television, and the manner in which screen plays and scripts have embraced the politics of fear, hope, and anger. Do films such as The Kingdom (2007) and the television series Homeland offer us important insights into how geopolitics is imagined and practised? New media forms, such as the internet and associated practices such as blogging and podcasting, will command increasing attention from those interested in popular geopolitics.
2. Egypt on display
Authors: Riggs Christina
Published: April 2017

Museums have played an important role in shaping how we think about ancient Egyptian culture. When the Napoleonic wars ended and European governments established links with Muhammad Ali, the viceroy of Egypt, the collection of objects for worldwide museums took off. ‘Egypt on display’ looks at the key objects held in collections today: shabtis (‘servant statuettes’); the Rosetta Stone; statues of the goddess Sekhmet; mummies; and the temple of Dendur, now in New York. Artwork on statues and coffins, and the architecture and decoration of a temple expressed their symbolic importance. But did these objects have the same role in antiquity as we portray in museums today?
7. Minerals past, present, and future
Authors: Vaughan David
Published: April 2017

‘Minerals past, present, and future’ first considers a theory of mineral evolution that proposes the Earth has evolved through three eras subdivided into ten stages, with each adding to the total inventory of mineral species. They are the planetary accretion era (Stages 1 and 2), crust and mantle reworking era (Stages 3–5), and biologically mediated mineralogy era (Stages 6–10). What role did these minerals play in the emergence of life? Pressing concerns for the present and future are whether the Earth has enough mineral resources to support human life and the environmental impact of the extraction, processing, and utilization of mineral resources.
5. Hermeneutics and theology
Authors: Zimmermann Jens
Published: April 2017

Theology interprets divine revelation. For Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, religious identity and daily living depend on divine revelation as collected in a sacred text—the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, respectively. ‘Hermeneutics and theology’ looks at what divine inspiration entails in these religions and the importance of tradition in understanding. It also discusses how the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century was a defining event in the history of hermeneutics; the rise of modern historical criticism; and the theological interpretations of Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Finally, the recent hermeneutic trends of narrative theology, a reworking of historical criticism, and canonical criticism are considered.