bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reconstructing the Past Using the British Parliamentary Papers: The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
Authors: Bowman Joye 
Published: May 2014

The British Parliamentary Papers continue to be a valuable source of information for historians of the African past. A vast amount of material on African affairs involving British interests can be found in these Papers. This essay deals with the way that the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 was presented in the Parliamentary Papers, specifically volume 13 of the Irish University Reprint Series entitled Colonies—Africa: Southern Africa General, 1878-80. It examines the kind of information presented, as well as the kind of material not presented. It analyzes the function of these Papers in their own time and in secondary sources on the Anglo-Zulu War. Finally, it considers the kinds of questions historians must ask in order to make these documents as useful as possible.The term “Parliamentary Papers” used in the broadest sense refers to all of the official published records of the British Parliament. This includes the record of its proceedings and various debates; the reports of Parliamentary Committees and non-Parliamentary Committees; and the official documents of various departments that discuss routine business. In a narrower and more precise sense, the term “Parliamentary Papers refers to specific sets of papers that came before the House of Commons, were printed for Parliament's use, and were part of a numbered series of papers.” The papers in this narrower group are considered “Sessional Papers,” popularly called “Blue Books,” a name given them in the nineteenth century because the government printers bound the majority of the papers in blue covers.
Minor Sources? Two Accounts of a 1670–1671 French Voyage to Guinea: Description, Authorship and Context
Authors: Chouin Gérard 
Published: May 2014

“La troisiesme partie de ce Recueil est la Relation d'un Voyage fait en la Coste d'Afrique, depuis le treiziéme degré de latitude septentrionale, jusqu'au troisesme du costé du Sud. L'Auteur estoit Officier dans un navire de guerre que Monsieur le Comte d'Estrée détacha de son escadre pour favoriser le commerce que nos François font en cette coste-là de temps immemorial & sur tout depuis qu'il a pieu au Roy de la joindre aux concessions de la Compagnie des Indes Occidentales. Il n'omet aucune chose de ce qui peut rendre son journal accomply. Il est exact en tout, il marque la latitude des lieux, où il a eu le moyen de prendre la hauteur, le gistement des costes, les Nations avec qui l'on peut trafiquer, celles dont il faut se défier. Il remarque enfin leur Religion, leurs moeurs, & tout ce qui peut rendre une Relation parfaite.”(Justel 1674:2-3)“J'ai entretenu le chevalier d'Ailly sur son voyage et dans tourtes les choses qu'il m'a dittes, je veoy bien qu'il s'est acquitté ponctuellement de tourtes celles qu'on luy avoit recommandez dans ses instructions. Il aura l'honneur de vous envoyer ses mémoires à la première occasion, et vous verrez, monsieur, par les siens et ceux du sieur de Gémosat, qu'il ne reste rien à désirer de tourtes les conoissances qui peuvent estre nécessaires.”(D'Estrées à Colbert, MC 156bis, 27 may 1671, 542)
The Anderson-D'Ollone Controversy of 1903–04: Race, Imperialism, and the Reconfiguration of the Liberia-Guinea Border
Authors: Geysbeek Tim 
Published: May 2014

The years 2003-04 mark the centennial observance of a debate that emerged in Paris, Freetown, and Monrovia over whether or not the Liberian Benjamin Anderson trekked to the fabled town of Musadu in 1868. Musadu, now situated about five miles northwest of Beyla in Guinea-Conakry, or eighty-five miles northwest of the Liberian border town of Yekepa, represented Liberia's interiormost claim in the nineteenth century. Anderson's challenger was a captain in the French army named Henri d'Ollone, who went to West Africa in the late 1890s and surveyed some of the land that the French had recently conquered. Anderson won the debate, given the fact he was still alive and could prove that he went to Musadu, and because eminent persons such as the French diplomat-scholar Maurice Delafosse, and perhaps even the famed pan-Africanist Edward W. Blyden, came to his defense.The controversy was set in the context of Britain, France, and Liberia's competing claims for land during the heyday of the western conquest of Africa. This paper examines the main contours of the debate, sets the debate in historical context, and republishes the most important primary sources so readers can examine the case more closely for themselves. While some have mentioned the controversy that emerged between d'Ollone and Anderson, the first detailed examination of what happened has been published in Fairhead et. al. (2003:79-88). This paper is a followup to that study.
A Male-Centric Modification of History; Efunsetan Aniwura Revisited
Authors: Ogunleye Foluke 
Published: May 2014

Historical drama can be described as a form of drama which purports to reflect or represent historical proceedings. Since time immemorial writers have combined fiction and history in creative works. Lawrence Langner has ascribed the popularity of historical drama to the desire of the theatergoer to spend an evening in the company of kings, queens, and other historical personages; the opportunity to become familiar with far greater events than those which take place in the lives of ordinary people; and that historical plays recreate great deeds done by great personages in the past. Historical facts are then creatively adapted and made available in play form to the audience. Adaptation has been defined as “the rewriting of a work from its original form to fit it for another medium … The term implies an attempt to retain the characters, actions, and as much as possible of the language and tone of the original…” The history play is also defined as “any drama whose time setting is in some period earlier than that in which it was written. We can also go further to describe the history play as one “that reconstructs a personage, a series of events, a movement, or the spirit of a past age and pays the debt of serious scholarship to the facts of the age being recreated.Judging from the foregoing, Akinwunmi Isola's play, Efunsetan Aniwura falls into the category of historical drama, treating as it does the story of the eponymous heroine who was the second Iyalode (queen of women) of Ibadan and who died on 30 June 1874. Prominent themes in Yoruba historical plays include war, conflict, and class struggle. Olu Obafemi has declared that the dramatization of the history, myth, and legends of the Yoruba community forms the bulk of the themes of Yoruba drama. These factors are vividly portrayed in Akinwunmi Isola's plays. Akinwunmi Isola is one of the most prolific playwrights who use their mother tongue to write plays in Nigeria. He is a Professor of Yoruba language and he uses the Yoruba language in writing his plays despite the fact that he is proficient in English and French languages.
Writing African Women's History with Male Sources: Possibilities and Limitations
Authors: Schler Lynn 
Published: May 2014

Colonial sources can provide historians with a wealth of information about African lives during the colonial period, but they must be read against the grain, filtering out valuable information from the biases and prejudices of European officials. The task of studying African women's history using colonial sources is even more complicated, as women were not often the focus of the colonial agenda, and contact between colonial officials and African women was relatively limited, and often indirect. Particularly in those arenas of African social, cultural, and political life deemed as women's spheres, colonial officials had little incentive to intervene. As a result, historians of later generations are faced with relatively sparse documentation of women-centered social activity during the colonial era. For their part, African women guarded cultural and political spheres under their influence from outside intervention, thus making it difficult for Europeans, and particularly European men, to gain a full and accurate understanding of women's individual and collective experiences under colonial rule.This paper will examine colonial research and documentation of African women's birthing practices.to illustrate both the potential for using these sources to understand some basic elements of women's experiences, and the limitations of this source material in providing deep and accurate insights into African women's history. Using an example from colonial Cameroon, we will see how European interest in women's birthing practices was motivated by colonial economic and scientific agendas steeped in racism and sexism, preventing European researchers from obtaining a balanced and accurate understanding of this women's sphere of social life. On the other hand, the documents reveal efforts of African women to prevent the colonial infiltration into women's arenas of influence.
Orphans in Highlife: An Anthropological Interpretation
Authors: van der Geest Sjaak 
Published: May 2014

In 1971 and 1973 I carried out anthropological fieldwork in Kwahu-Tafo, a rural town of about 5,000 inhabitants on the Kwahu plateau in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The first research project was a case study of the family I was staying with; the second was on ideas and practices concerning sex and birth control. As usual in anthropological research, my attention was drawn to many other things around me. One of these was Highlife. This short essay discusses the texts of some Highlife songs, which intriguingly related to my experiences in the field.It was impossible not to be struck by the importance of Highlife in the dreariness of daily life in Ghana. In the evenings large groups of young people assembled in front of the local bar to dance and listen to Highlife, the sounds of which resounded over the town. Many of the youngsters sang the texts along with the music. The typically empty interior contrasted strangely with the crowd outside. They were attracted not only by the music but also by the light—the bar was the only place in town with electricity. And, of course, it was the place to meet members of the opposite sex. Women and children were present to sell bread, tea, fried plantains, and other snacks. Around 10 p.m. the bar usually stopped the music; the lights went off, and the people dispersed. I became curious to know what the songs were about. Although I had learned some Twi, I was not able to understand them, so I asked someone to translate one text for me. The content aroused my interest and I decided to collect more Highlife texts. Various people helped me: school pupils, teachers, university students, and others. After recording the songs I had them transcribed in Twi and then translated into English.
Contradictions at the Heart of the Canon: Jan Vansina and the Debate over Oral Historiography in Africa, 1960–1985
Authors: Newbury David 
Published: May 2014

Oracy is a hallmark of human society. So too is historical inquiry, as societies seek to identify and transmit those remembrances (or “imaginations”) considered important to defining collective social identity; in the process, they establish meaningful patterns by sifting and culling discrete perceptions through the analysis and critique, the repetition and elaboration, of competing testimonies. Yet, while oral communication and historical sensitivities have been present in all human societies for all time, the western historical profession was slow to mesh the two—slow to accept oral accounts as historical sources. In Africa initiatives to bring them together systematically emerged only in tandem with the growth of nationalism outside the hegemony of colonial constructs and, in particular, with decolonization.To be sure, many people outside the discipline had considered the relations of oracy and history. But both advocates and adversaries alike saw a turning point when Jan Vansina forced the issue on the historical discipline (most decidedly against its will) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. While others before him had argued for the historical validity of oral sources, Vansina framed his position in broader perspective, as a conceptual bedrock essential to understanding Africa. Historical sources abounded in Africa, he argued. They could be identified and understood, and they were subject to the same critical apparatus as western written sources; therefore Africa not only had a history, but it was knowable in the same terms as history in Europe. This was the reference point that drove his work. Whatever position one takes on his work, Vansina is seen as among the first to challenge the professional discipline, to sustain the argument, to push a broad range of methodological tactics, to master the empirical material, and to produce work based on such methods, in such a way that his innovations could not be dismissed out of hand.
A windy day in a sheep saleyard: an outbreak of Q fever in rural South Australia
Authors: O'CONNOR B. A. , TRIBE I. G. , GIVNEY R. 
Published: May 2014

SUMMARYIn December 2004, the Department of Human Services investigated an outbreak of Q fever in South Australia. A case-control study tested an association between attending a local saleyard and human illness. A case was defined as a person with clinical illness and evidence of seroconversion or high phase II IgM. Controls were selected from a database of community controls matched on sex, age group and postcode. Matched analysis of the first 15 cases with 45 controls indicated that contracting Q fever was associated with attending the saleyard on one particular day (adjusted odds ratio 15·3, 95% confidence interval 1·7–undefined,P = 0·014). Saleyard conditions were windy and conducive for airborne dispersal of contaminated particles. In total, 25 cases were detected. Of these, 22 cases had attended a local saleyard on the same day. This outbreak suggests cases were probably infected by a single exposure at a saleyard from infected sheep and dust. The investigation resulted in an increase in the local uptake of Q fever vaccination and extension of the Australian national vaccination programme.
Fluctuating temperatures terminate dormancy inCynara cardunculusseeds by turning off ABA synthesis and reducing ABA signalling, but not stimulating GA synthesis or signalling
Authors: Roberto Huarte H. , Luna Virginia , Pagano Eduardo A. , Zavala Jorge A. , Benech-Arnold Roberto L. 
Published: May 2014

AbstractFluctuating temperatures terminate seed dormancy in many species, includingCynara cardunculus(L.) var.sylvestris. Termination of physiological dormancy requires low ratios of abscisic acid (ABA)/gibberellins (GA). In a previous paper we have shown that physiological responses to fluctuating temperatures comprise a reduction of abscisic acid (ABA) content and sensitivity. However, a possible stimulation of GA synthesis was also suggested as part of the mechanism. That possible stimulation, as well as the identification of potential regulatory sites for ABA and GA metabolism and signalling involved in the termination of dormancy by fluctuating temperatures, are yet to be determined. In this study, we measured GA content and sensitivity in seeds incubated under constant and fluctuating temperatures. We also assessed the expression of several genes involved in ABA and GA metabolism and signalling. Our results show that fluctuating temperatures reduce ABA/GA ratios through a reduction in ABA accumulation during incubation but without altering GA synthesis as compared to that observed under constant temperatures. On the other hand, fluctuating temperatures did not increase sensitivity to GA. Fluctuating temperatures reduced the expression ofCycaNCEDandCycaABI5(ABA synthesis and signalling genes) with a temporal pattern that coincides with the interruption of ABA accumulation that precedes germination of seeds incubated under fluctuating temperatures. However, fluctuating temperatures did not modify the expression ofCycaCYP707A2(ABA inactivation) as compared to that observed under constant temperatures. Consistent with our determinations of GA content and sensitivity, fluctuating temperatures did not modify the expression of GA synthesis (CycaGA3ox) and signalling genes (CycaRGL2andCycaGAI) in relation to that observed at constant temperatures. These results show that fluctuating temperatures terminate dormancy inCynara cardunculusseeds through an interruption in ABA accumulation and a reduction in ABA signalling exerted at the level ofCycaNCEDandCycaABI5expression.
Seed-coat thickness data clarify seed size–seed-bank persistence trade-offs inAbutilon theophrasti(Malvaceae)
Authors: Schutte Brian J. , Davis Adam S. , Peinado Stephen A. , Ashigh Jamshid 
Published: May 2014

AbstractTheoretical models predict that seed size and seed-bank persistence evolve interdependently, such that strong selection for one trait corresponds with weak selection for the other. This framework has been supported and rejected by empirical data, and thus, conclusive evidence is lacking. We expanded the seed size–persistence framework to include seed-coat thickness, a defence trait previously correlated with seed survival in soil. To do this, we usedAbutilon theophrastiaccessions with varied evolutionary histories and we quantified associations among seed traits including morphology, size, coat thickness, dormancy (percentage of viable seeds that fail to germinate under optimum conditions) and seed-bank persistence (percentage of viable seeds remaining after 1 year of burial). Statistical models were developed to test the hypothesis that combined measurements of seed-coat thickness and seed size better explain variability in seed-bank persistence than seed-size data alone. Results indicated that measurements of seed size (length, width, mass) were negatively correlated with coat:width ratio (coat thickness relative to seed width) and coat:mass ratio (coat thickness relative to seed mass). Accessions characterized by smaller seeds with proportionally thicker seed coats were more dormant and more persistent in soil than accessions characterized by larger seeds with proportionally thinner seed coats. Seed-coat thickness data improved the explanatory power of logistic regression models for seed-size effects on both seed-bank persistence and dormancy. These results indicate that supplementing seed-size data with seed-defence data may clarify previously reported contradictory results regarding trade-offs between seed size and seed-bank persistence.
TOTAL LOGIC
Authors: LEUENBERGER STEPHAN 
Published: May 2014

AbstractA typical first stab at explicating the thesis of physicalism is this: physicalism is true iff every fact about the world is entailed by the conjunction of physical facts. The same holds,mutatis mutandis, for other hypotheses about the fundamental nature of our world. But it has been recognized that this would leave such hypotheses without the fighting chance that they deserve: certain negative truths, like the truth (if it is one) that there are no angels, are not entailed by the physical facts, but nonetheless do not threaten physicalism. A plausible remedy that has been suggested by Jackson and Chalmers is that physicalism boils down to the thesis that every truth is entailed by the conjunction of the physical facts prefixed by a “that’s it” or “totality” operator. To evaluate this suggestion, we need to know what that operator means, and—since the truth of physicalism hinges on what is entailed by a totality claim—what its logic is. That is, we need to understand the logic of totality, or total logic. In this paper, I add a totality operator to the language of propositional logic and present a model theory for it, building on a suggestion by Chalmers and Jackson. I then prove determination results for a number of different systems.
Generating optical orbital angular momentum at visible wavelengths using a plasmonic metasurface
Authors: Karimi Ebrahim , Schulz Sebastian A , De Leon Israel , Qassim Hammam , Upham Jeremy , Boyd Robert W 
Published: May 2014

AbstractLight beams with a helical phase-front possess orbital angular momentum along their direction of propagation in addition to the spin angular momentum that describes their polarisation. Until recently, it was thought that these two ‘rotational’ motions of light were largely independent and could not be coupled during light–matter interactions. However, it is now known that interactions with carefully designed complex media can result in spin-to-orbit coupling, where a change of the spin angular momentum will modify the orbital angular momentum and vice versa. In this work, we propose and demonstrate that the birefringence of plasmonic nanostructures can be wielded to transform circularly polarised light into light carrying orbital angular momentum. A device operating at visible wavelengths is designed from a space-variant array of subwavelength plasmonic nano-antennas. Experiment confirms that circularly polarised light transmitted through the device is imbued with orbital angular momentum of ±2ħ (with conversion efficiency of at least 1%). This technology paves the way towards ultrathin orbital angular momentum generators that could be integrated into applications for spectroscopy, nanoscale sensing and classical or quantum communications using integrated photonic devices.
55 dB DC gain, robust to PVT single‐stage fully differential amplifier on 45 nm SOI‐CMOS technology
Authors: Gómez H. , Espinosa G. 
Published: May 2014

The design of a single‐stage operational transconductance amplifier is presented, which uses self‐cascode transistors and current shunt stages to improve its DC gain. The proposed amplifier is implemented in a standard 45 nm silicon on insulator CMOS process. Simulation results show that the amplifier has a DC gain above 50 dB despite physical and environmental variations with a minimum gain bandwidth product of 540 MHZ and more than 55° phase margin. In addition, the simulated transient behaviour is shown to be robust, with a slew rate of 500 V/μs and a settling time of 7 ns with 1% accuracy for a CL of 0.3 pF.
Inserted rest period resensitizes MC3T3-E1 cells to fluid shear stress in a time-dependent manner via F-actin-regulated mechanosensitive channel(s)
Authors: Gong Xiaoyuan , Fan Yijuan , Zhang Yinxin , Luo Chunhua , Duan Xiaojun , Yang Liu , Pan Jun 
Published: May 2014

Abstract
The underlying cellular mechanism of anabolic effect recovered by inserting rest is not fully understood. In this work, we studied the role of F-actin regulated mechanosensitive channel(s) re-activation in mechanosensitivity modulation in vitro. Results showed that steady fluid shear stress (sFSS) stimulation with 30-min rest period was more potential in increasing alkalinephosphatase (ALP) activity than 10 and 0-min rest periods, and insertion of 30 min, but not 0 or 10 min, recovered the [Ca2+]i transient and contribution of the mechanosensitive channel(s). During the rest period, F-actin experienced polymerization (0–10 min), followed by depolymerization (10–30 min); inhibition of F-actin polymerization/depolymerization significantly increased/decreased the [Ca2+]i transient, as well as the contribution of the mechanosensitive channel(s) in subsequent sFSS stimulation. Our results demonstrated that the long rest period between sFSS loadings recruited [Ca2+]i transient via F-actin depolymerization-induced reactivation of mechanosensitive channel(s), suggesting that F-actin-regulated cellular stiffness could account for the decreased anabolic response during continuous mechanical loading in bone cells.