Intermediary Position Research Articles

Invention: The Language of English Renaissance Poetics by Rocío G. Sumillera

Reviewed by: Invention: The Language of English Renaissance Poetics by Rocío G. Sumillera Catherine Bates Invention: The Language of English Renaissance Poetics. By Rocío G. Sumillera. Cambridge: Legenda. 2019. x+159 pp. £75. ISBN 978–1–781883–20–4. Keeping good company with the current surge of interest in Renaissance poetics, this meticulously researched and useful book shows how the concept of 'invention' undergoes a critical development during the early modern period. Through a series of carefully marshalled arguments and extensively illustrated examples, Rocío Sumillera convincingly demonstrates that the 'conceptual richness' (pp. 2, 125) of Renaissance inventio results from its intermediary position between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, on the one hand, and Romanticism, on the other. While referring widely to Italian, French, and Spanish sources, Sumillera focuses specifically on sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England to trace the evolution of this critical concept, as it shifts from being a functional term in classical logic and rhetoric to assuming much wider connotations of artistic originality and creativity. Key to this development is the change from invention as a form of finding (from in +venire, literally 'to come upon') to invention as a form of devising, making, or creating. To explore how and when this change takes place, Sumillera considers inventionʼs relation to imitation and imagination, respectively. With their origins in Plato and Aristotle, theories of imitation have always struggled with the question of ideality—whether the object imitated or the imitation itself might be in some way exemplary—and this problem comes to the fore when the object being imitated is another author. While there is little dignity in slavish copying, imitatio assumes an altogether more 'inventive form' (p. 49) when—differentiated as aemulatio—it aims to alter, personalize, and surpass the original. As for theories of the imagination—although originating in the quite different discipline of natural philosophy and associated there with questions of perception and cognition—the 'image-making faculty' was similarly understood to work with both 'what had already been experienced' and 'new realities never even perceived' (p. 111): in other words, to be capable of producing something potentially better and new. The idea that a human artist might create something out of nothing—surpassing not only literary forebears but nature herself in 'making things either better than Nature bringeth forth, or, quite anew', as Philip Sidney puts it in the Defence of Poesy—was alien to the Greeks; for the polytheistic societies of antiquity saw the gods or Muses as sources of inspiration rather than as the single, ideal, creator God of Christianity in whom the human artist might find the ultimate model, 'the heavenly Maker of that maker' (Sidney, again). It was in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, interestingly enough—when scholastic Christianity was at the [End Page 278] height of its reach and power—that the notion of inventio first entered the field of poetics: through the poetic treatises of men such as Geoffrey of Vinsauf and John of Garland, and through the medieval artes poetriae that taught the principles of composition and interpretation (that is, the writing and reading of literary texts). By the same token, however, in exercising a creative power more properly deemed divine, the human artist ran the risk of presumption if not of sacrilege and blasphemy, which is why such creativity also roused strong opposition (especially among the Calvinists, with their emphasis on human depravity): an anti-poetic sentiment that was to feature particularly strongly in the English Reformation. All in all, this is a detailed yet wide-ranging scholarly book that will serve students and scholars equally well. Although its focus is English Renaissance poetics, the breadth of reference to European sources gives this study a notable ballast and breadth. Sumillera is particularly adept at the selection and presentation of primary quotations, finding the perfect examples—and plenty of them—to illustrate her argument. This makes the book a great resource, as well as a pleasure to read. Catherine Bates University of Warwick Copyright © 2022 Modern Humanities Research Association

After the storm

Abstract This study investigates the translational practices of far-right activists in Germany through content analysis of storytelling about the January 6 storming of the US Capitol in influential German alternative news websites. Findings reveal how far-right commentators used their intermediary position to re-narrate, translate, and convert ‘mainstream’ accounts of an exceptionally contentious event into stories supporting far-right- wing and extremist identities. Re-narrations of January 6 events characterized protesters as victim-heroes and contrasted them with the true villains responsible for the chaos and violence, which included a broad spectrum of political actors on the ideological left writ large.

Imagined Futures: Writing, Science, and Modernity in the To-Day and To-Morrow Book Series, 1923–31 by Max Saunders

Reviewed by: Imagined Futures: Writing, Science, and Modernity in the To-Day and To-Morrow Book Series, 1923–31 by Max Saunders Maxim Shadurski Imagined Futures: Writing, Science, and Modernity in the To-Day and To-Morrow Book Series, 1923–31. By Max Saunders. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2019. xiv+423 pp. £60. ISBN 978–0–19–882945–4. Highly comprehensive and insightful, this landmark study offers a critical reevaluation of modernism against the background of twentieth-century futurology. Focusing on ‘To-Day and To-Morrow’, a book series of 110 volumes edited by C. K. Ogden during the inter-war years, Max Saunders examines how futurology provided a mode by which writers expressed their modernity. For Saunders, the series primarily popularized expert scientific knowledge, heralding thus a ‘third culture’ between sciences and humanities. This enterprise also produced a distinct category of writing, ‘speculative non-fiction’ (pp. vii, 9), evocative of H. G. Wells’s ‘province’ of ‘speculative philosophy’ (H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898), in H. G. Wells: Classic Collection I (London: Gollancz, 2010), p. 361). Saunders’s study construes the series with a peculiar historical consciousness and future-oriented chronotope. Overshadowed by post-Darwinian degeneration and post-First World War despondency, ‘To-Day and To-Morrow’ emerged on the cusp of ‘radical commencement’ (p. 51), a time when the scale of modern innovation and change reinforced the status of futurology. On a futurological timeline, the series occupies an intermediary position between Wells’s practice of anticipations as a scientific method, on the one hand, and the eclipsing credibility of scientific planning after the Second World War, on the other. Saunders convincingly ascribes the project’s curtailment to the 1930s economic slump, ‘a blow to confidence in the future more generally’ (p. 341). Being a modernist phenomenon, ‘To-Day and To-Morrow’ invests modernity with hope. Its orientation towards the future differs from the temporality of classical modernism, which frequently renders all time commensurate with the past or fears the prospect of a robotizing future. The series’ engagement with space equally embraces a positive faith that science can transform the human body and everyday life. Such a future-oriented chronotope occurs simultaneously with instances of self-reflexivity throughout the volumes, and this occurrence ensures freedom of discussion and imagination. The study investigates ‘To-Day and To-Morrow’ in three parts, broadly divided into the specialist areas of sciences and humanities, as well as their technological and cultural applications. This structure permits Saunders to map out a multiplicity of imagined futures, which variously include: human agency above divine intervention; world unity on linguistic, commercial, and governmental lines; a rapprochement between mind and matter; the machine’s liberating effects on humanity; the transformation of the everyday, be it sleep, sport, domestic architecture, or clothing; and the endurance of past writing. Albeit selective, Saunders’s analyses look both at and beyond the series’ most famous contributors: J. B. S. Haldane, Bertrand Russell, J. D. Bernal, Vera Brittain, Robert Graves. The resulting intervention is nuanced and illuminating, particularly in how it contextualizes the volumes alongside the modernists’ preoccupations with their content, expression, and spirit. Whereas Aldous Huxley quarried the series for ideas of ectogenesis, [End Page 122] contraception, and hypnopaedia, James Joyce captured its new vocabulary. T. S. Eliot and Wyndham Lewis reacted against the series’ scientific claims: while the former disavowed a mundanely devised future, the latter repudiated science as a new creed. Saunders’s study surpasses the remit of book history and its contemporary affiliations. Rather, it furnishes a sustained commentary on how ‘To-Day and To-Morrow’ partakes of futurology and predicts ‘biospheres, mobile phones, and virtual reality, but not the digital processor, the crisis in obesity, or the resurgence of religious fundamentalisms’ (p. 40). To Saunders, accuracy of predictions matters only as a reminder that any ‘horizon scanning’ has blind spots. The series may indeed leave ‘a computer-shaped hole’ in its imaginings (p. 25), yet this gap hardly compromises either the project’s poetics or its audacity. Saunders deplores the recent cultural tendencies to relegate the future to a museum or extrapolate its fulfilment to the present moment. His arguments against the end...

Struktur, Pandangan Dunia, dan Struktur Sosial dalam Hikayat Mareskalek Karya Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Misri: Tinjauan Strukturalisme Genetik

This research aims to reveal the structure, world view, and social structure in Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Misri'sHikayatMareskalek (HM) with the theory of genetic structuralism by Lucien Goldmann’s perspective. This research used the first version of HM text or HMa Cod. Or. 1724 edited by Zaini-Lajoubert. The data of this study were obtained by using the reading-note technique and dialectical method. The data for the three research variables are HM text; philosophical, cultural, and ideological texts; as well as texts of social research results, such as economics, politics, and the like that are relevant to HM. These data are analyzed by a dialectical method to show the relationship between variables by placing them in the overall social structure. The results of this study indicate that the structure of the Hikayat is formed from various oppositional relations which generally show colonial opposition to the natives and the Chinese,as well as Islam and Islamism to colonialism. The structure depicts Mareskalek's interiority as a troubled hero, but he wants to unite with the world. By borrowing a novel concept of Lukacs, HM is a type of education. The worldview expressed is leadership elitism and Islamism. The first world view appears from the structure that puts the colonial as superior to other social classes. Meanwhile, Islamism can be seen from the structure that declares Islam and Islamism above colonialism. Both of them are contradictory related. On the one hand, al-Misri stated the values of colonial superiority by manipulating historical facts. On the other hand, he was against colonialism though not directly. This is made possible by the social changes that occurred as a result of Daendels' various policies. In addition, the author is in an intermediary position. As part of the Arab community, he is below the colonial and above the natives in the structure of the Dutch East Indies society.

Exhibiting Faith against an Imperial Background: Angola and the Spiritans at the Vatican Missionary Exhibition (1925)

Abstract In 1925 the Vatican Missionary Exhibition took place, presenting thousands of objects sent by Catholic missions around the world. Resulting from substantial efforts by the Church, the exhibition had a significant public impact, with an estimated one million visitors. It marked a critical moment in the international affirmation of the Church, as well as the reformulation and expansion of its missionary policy in the aftermath of the Great War. Catholic missions and congregations in the Portuguese colonial empire participated in the exhibition. This article focuses on the Angolan case, where the Congregation of the Holy Spirit was the main protagonist of Catholic missionisation. I examine the organisation process, the circulation of norms and objects across imperial borders, and their exhibition at the Vatican. I discuss the tensions between the pontifical message and Portuguese missionary politics, as well as the intermediary position that the Spiritans occupied.

Challenging antisemitism in history and today

ABSTRACT Renton reviews McGeever's analysis of the Bolshevik encounter with antisemitism in 1917. He argues that McGeever's narrative builds on insights which were already in the public domain, while acknowledging that McGeever takes the story further by showing that anti-Jewish violence was more pervasive than previously understood. He argues that the rise at the same moment of both revolutionary sentiment and racist prejudice is not a phenomenon restricted to 1917, but is a recurring feature of British and European history. He notes that the heroic figures in McGeever's narrative stood at an intermediary position between Jewish nationalism (Zionism) and internationalism (Marxism), and argues that this was a recurring position within Jewish politics, as discernible in the 1940s as it had been in 1917. He suggests that further research might well elucidate the contribution of other ethnic minorities whose most principled fighters also occupied a similar position mid-way between nationalism and internationalism.

Abdominal wall endometriosis: Is structure in imaging related to nodule localisation? A retrospective study

Objective:Investigate the relationship between the structure of abdominal wall endometriotic nodules in MRI and their localisation in abdominal wall layers in order to better understand nodule origins.Design:Women who had an MRI prior to surgical treatment of an abdominal wall endometriotic nodule between 2005 and 2016.Population:Thirty-six patients including four patients with two nodules.Methods:MRI images were reviewed. Each nodule was analysed according to its structure (fibrous, cystic, mixed), localisation (subcutaneous fat, intra muscular, intermediary position), and size.Results:Forty nodules were analysed in MRI with no relationship found between localisation and nodule structure ( p = 0.48). 87.5% of mixed nodules were revealed to have a cystic superficial rim extending towards the subcutaneous fat layer. This finding suggests that the glandular part of the nodule is the active part of the disease from which nodule progression occurs. Intermediary and intramuscular nodules were respectively statistically larger than subcutaneous fat nodules indicating a relationship between nodule size and localisation (35 mm (22–53) vs 17 mm (17–23)) ( p = 0.03).Conclusion:Despite differences in environments surrounding the nodules, no significant relationship between nodule structure in imaging and abdominal wall localisation was found. Data from mixed nodules indicate however the possible role of nodule environment on structure and that the mechanism of nodule growth may be linked to development of cystic superficial rims, at the forefront of disease progression, abdominal wall nodules growing from deep to superficial. Studies are required to further investigate our findings and enable greater understanding of the origins of AWE.

The enemy within: the effects of mistletoe parasitism on infected and uninfected host branches

To comprehend how mistletoes affect their host functioning is a key matter in plant ecology. As yet, it is not clear whether the impact of mistletoes is confined to infected branches or the entire host is compromised as well. Here, we compared leaf functional traits between branches infected by mistletoes (infected), uninfected branches yet close to mistletoe attachment (neighbour), and branches of trees without any mistletoe (control). Our model species pairs were Phoradendron crassifolium infecting Eremanthus erythropappus tree and Psittacanthus robustus infecting Vochysia thyrsoidea tree. The study was carried out in the Brazilian savannah, Cerrado. We found that neighbour branches of E. erythropappus suffered a greater reduction in specific leaf area compared to infected branches. Control branches occupied an intermediary position between infected and neighbour branches. On the other hand, both infected and neighbouring branches of V. thyrsoidea suffered a reduction in carbon assimilation rate compared to control trees. As far as we know, our study is the first to describe the presence of mistletoe affecting the healthy branches neighbouring the mistletoe attachment. This finding sheds light on the need to consider both infected and neighbouring branches when evaluating the effects of parasitism on tropical trees.

Türkiye’de Yasama Ombudsmanının Kamusal Uyuşmazlıkların Çözümünde Arabulucu Fonksiyonu

Bu makale Türkiye’de yasama ombudsmanının kamusal uyuşmazlıkların çözülmesindeki rolüne odaklanarak kamu kurumları ve vatandaşlar arasındaki arabulucu fonksiyonunu incelemektedir. 2012 yılında Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi’ne bağlı olarak kurulmasından itibaren Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumu 80,535 kamusal uyuşmazlığı çözüme kavuşturmuştur. Ombudsmanın arabulucu fonksiyonu literatürde göz ardı edilmesine ve kurumun daha çok idari fonksiyonuna odaklanılmasına rağmen Türkiye örneği arabuluculuk yöntemlerinin uygulanmasının kurumun uyuşmazlık çözüm kapasitesini artırdığını göstermektedir. Arabuluculuk yöntemlerinin kurumun uyuşmazlık çözüm kapasitesini artırmadaki fonksiyonunu daha iyi anlamak amacıyla bu makale dostane çözüm yöntemi olarak adlandırılan ve 2017 yılından itibaren Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumu tarafından uygulanan arabuluculuk yöntemiyle çözülen 1003 uyuşmazlığı ampirik olarak analiz etmektedir. Bu çalışma, arabuluculuk yöntemlerinin kısıtlı olsa da taraflar arasındaki etkileşimi artırarak ombudsmanın uyuşmazlık çözüm kapasitesine olumlu katkı yaptığını ortaya koymaktadır.

Studies on fruit morphology, nutritional and floral diversity in less-known melons (Cucumis melo L.) of India

Less-known melons belonging to the genus Cucumis melo L. were studied for the Indian region. A total of 39 accessions of distinct types in less-known melons, C. melo subsp. agrestis var. agrestis (local names-‘choti kachri’, ‘badi kachri’, ‘sukkangai’), C. melo subsp. agrestis var. momordica (‘phunt’, ‘vellari’; snap melon), C. melo subsp. agrestis var. conomon (‘sohthiar’; oriental pickling melon), C. melo subsp. melo var. flexuosus (‘kakdi’, ‘tar’; snake melon) and C. melo subsp. agrestis var. alwarensis (‘arya’) were studied for morphological characters of fruit to identify their genetic resource value. Out of 39 accessions, four taxa were selected for nutritional analysis and the floral diversity study on the basis of research gaps, status of diversity in wild and vulnerability in cultivation, and non-availability of comparative account in the context of diversity in the Indian region. Nutritional components of 12 accessions of four taxa-‘choti kachri’ and ‘badi kachri’, snap melon, snake melon and ‘arya’ were analyzed. Additionally, the floral diversity traits were studied to support marker characters and to classify the subspecies under the respective botanical varieties and cultivar delimitation. Morphologically ‘choti kachri’ and ‘badi kachri’ were identical except for the fruit size and weight; arya and snake melon grouped together with snap melon and other intermediate forms; oriental pickling melon was entirely distinct, more closer to the musk melon but had no fruit aroma. Based on floral diversity study, ‘choti kachri’ and ‘badi kachri’ were grouped together whereas snake melon and ‘arya’ were closer and snap melon showed intermediary position. The result of the nutritional analysis clearly demonstrated variability recorded among accessions for all proximate traits in ‘choti kachri (IC629817) which had the highest proteins (2.16–3.67%), ash content (3.059%), crude fat (0.482%), dietary fibre (4.12%), starch content (3.50%), Fe (4.06 mg/100 g), Zn (1.498 mg/100 g), total phenols (29.5%) and ascorbic acid (25.9 mg/100 g) among the studied melon accessions. On the other hand, ‘badi kachri’ (IC629828) had the least protein, crude fat, Cu, Fe, total phenol and ascorbic acid contents followed by snap melon, snake melon and ‘arya’ with moderate to low values of all nutritive traits. The study would facilitate identification of the distinct morphotypes in each category and grouping the intermediate type and unknown taxa. Fruit nutritional analysis will help in using them for desirable nutritional traits for pre-breeding programmes. Besides, the floral diversity can lead to identification of marker characters in crop improvement programme.

Oligarchy and the Tripartite Soul in Plato’s Republic

AbstractInRepublicVIII, oligarchy is represented as a transitional or hybrid regime combining features of aristocracy and timocracy with the rule of appetitive desire characteristic of democracy and tyranny. The apparently anomalous intermediary position of oligarchy, in which an object of appetitive soul provides the foundation for interpersonal and political norms, demonstrates the complexity of the interaction between ruling soul parts and underlying rational structures that give unity to each constitution and character type. This interaction cannot be adequately accounted for in terms of the activity of autonomous soul parts whose interactions are wholly reduced to quantitative relations of force.

RECONCILING COMPETING INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS IN CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL UNITS

Prior literature highlights the competing institutional logics corporate venture capital (CVC) units have to face due to their intermediary position between the two environments in which they operate — the VC industry and the corporate firm. By conducting an inductive case study of 20 CVC units, we unravel how novel organisational subunits reconcile the conflicting logics in terms of their organisational structure. We show that, instead of fully aligning with one or the other environment, most units form hybrid organisations incorporating elements of both logics. Our data suggest that CVC units tend to follow the hybridisation strategy of selective coupling rather than apply strategies of compromising or decoupling. The type of structure depends on factors on the intra-, inter-organisational and industry level. We further suggest a specific hybridisation pattern that is especially beneficial in the achievement of a unit’s strategic objectives. Our findings contribute to both institutional theory and CVC literature.

Intermediary workers: Narratives of supervision and support work within the halfway house setting

Drawing on interviews with halfway house staff, this article provides insight into how these workers conceive of their work and occupational identities within the specific context of the halfway house. Specifically, I examine how halfway house workers seek to differentiate their work and approach to governing former prisoners from that of parole officers. I demonstrate how halfway house workers in this study capitalized on their intermediary position as quasi-state agents, using meso-level complications and struggle to carve out a space in which they felt empowered to carry out multiple, and sometimes conflicting, agendas in their everyday work with halfway house residents.

Three Types of Denial: Think Tanks as a Reluctant Civil Society Elite

Think tanks, or policy advice institutions, are civil society organizations producing and delivering social analysis to policymakers and the wider public. Their aim is to influence policy in a given direction. Compared to most other civil society organizations, they hold relatively privileged positions, both in terms of wealth (on average bigger budgets and staffs), political influence (their very raison d’être), knowledge (educational level of the staff), and social networks. Thus, it seems beyond dispute that think tanks adhere to the elite of civil society. This article focuses on think tanks’ negative self-identification, on their reluctance to accept labels. Not only are think tanks unwilling to take on the elite designation, some of them also deny being part of civil society, and some go one step further in denying identification with the think tank community. These multiple denials are expected if we recall Pierre Bourdieu’s observation that “all aristocracies define themselves as being beyond all definition” (Bourdieu, 1996, p. 316). The analysis focuses on how this definitional ambiguity is discursively constructed. Think-tankers are often described as situated in an interstitial space between such fields as politics, civil society, media, market, and academia. While this intermediary position is the source of their unique role as converters of various forms of capital, it also complicates the identity formation of think tanks. The argument is illustrated by Polish think tanks and the data consists of original interviews with think tank leaders. The article provides a novel perspective on think tanks and on civil society elites.

Considerations about the friction inside on a transversal coupling

The paper presents, starting from some kinematic aspects as rotations and translations between the Oldham coupling parts, some kinematic equations useful in determining of intermediary element position depending by the transversal misalignments. Then, using the inside translational movements between parts, the friction coefficient between adequate materials to be used are studied. The friction which appears between the coupling parts has an important influence on their dynamic behaviour, wear and lifetime. The most significant friction and also wear is given by the translational movements between parts. Due to this, the study of the friction between some materials to be used in coupling manufacturing is required, but also difficult because of some particularities, as reduced parts translational movements for reduced transversal misalignments between shafts, or the alternative translational movement in translational joints. In the paper final part the results and conclusions are presented.

Informal Social Networks as Intermediaries in Foreign Markets

ABSTRACTWe investigate how informal social networks can assist multinational firms in their internationalization strategy. We propose a refinement of the Uppsala internalization model (Johanson & Vahne, 2009) grounded in network theory, by developing an intermediate position between an ‘insider’ and an ‘outsider’ for conditions when the transformation of an outsider into an insider is limited by institutional constraints. An intermediary position represents one of the sides of ‘patron-client’ informal networks (Denoeux, 1993) whereby the other side is represented by the ‘insider’. We argue that this setup would help mitigate the Liability of Outsidership (Johanson & Vahne, 2009), a replacement of the Liability of Foreignness (Hymer, 1976; Zaheer, 1995), in the modern networked business world. We contextualize our proposition for the case of Iran, a large rising West-Asian economy with known institutional limitations, and suggest that the informal network of local merchants (bazaaries) could play an important intermediary role in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) internationalization process. We review the history ofbazaariesand make a series of propositions exemplifying possible ways informal networks could influence the internationalization process. In addition to re-affirming the importance of the MNE country of origin (emerging markets, and low psychic distance with Iran), we propose that an intermediary of the Iranianbazaarieswill have a positive impact on performance and survival of the MNE's subsidiary in Iran, especially in the case of incongruence of MNE's leadership with Shi'a Islam. Additionally, we suggest that employing the Iranian diaspora may also improve subsidiary performance and survival.

Exploring the relationship between auditory hallucinations, trauma and dissociation.

It is clinically imperative to better understand the relationship between trauma, auditory hallucinations and dissociation. The personal narrative of trauma has enormous significance for each individual and is also important for the clinician, who must use this information to decide on a diagnosis and treatment approach. To better understand whether dissociation contributes in a significant way to hallucinations in individuals with and without trauma histories. Three groups of participants with auditory hallucinations were recruited, with diagnoses of: schizophrenia (without trauma) (n = 18), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, n = 27) and comorbid schizophrenia and PTSD (SCZ+PTSD), n = 26). Clinician-administered measures included the PTSD Symptoms Scale Interview (PSSI-5), the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS). Dissociative symptoms were significantly higher in participants with trauma histories (PTSD and SCZ+PTSD groups) and significantly correlated with hallucinations in trauma-exposed participants, but not in participants with schizophrenia (without trauma history). Hallucination severity was correlated with the CADSS amnesia subscale score, but depersonalisation and derealisation were not. Dissociation may be a mechanism in trauma-exposed individuals who hear voices, but it does not explain all hallucinatory experiences. The SCZ+PTSD group were in an intermediary position between schizophrenia and PTSD on dissociative and hallucination measures. The PTSD and SCZ+PTSD groups experienced dissociative phenomena much more frequently than the schizophrenia group, with a significant trend towards the amnesia subtype of dissociation.

Bremen, Harderwijk und die Zuiderzee

Bremen, Harderwijk and the ZuiderzeeThe Harderwijk peace treaty of 8 May 1446, negotiated by envoys of the duchy of Burgundy and the Hanse town Bremen and ratified by duke Philip the Good of Burgundy on 8 July 1446, brought to an end a war which had lasted for four years, during which Bremen had waged war on the Burgundian territories of Holland, Zealand, Flanders and Brabant in order to gain compensation for ships and goods which had been captured (mainly by privateers) in the conflict between Holland and the Wendish towns (1438– 41). During the latter conflict, neutral ships were been seized if they were suspected to be carrying Dutch or Flemish goods – a practice which also affected skippers and merchants from Kampen, Harderwijk and Deventer. Therefore Kampen repeatedly took the initiative to midwife an agreement between Bremen and Holland. At first, this failed to produce an acceptable result because Flanders could not be included. In the end, however, the negotiations in Harderwijk in April and May 1446 succeeded in bringing the war to an end. Bremen and Stade obtained financial compensation, to be funded by the towns of Holland and Zealand. Evidence of direct connections between Bremen and the Zuiderzee towns begins in the 14th century and concerns quarrels with citizens of Kampen and Deventer or the naturalization of immigrants from the Zuiderzee towns in Bremen. Beginning in the 12th and 13th centuries, vessels from Holland, Utrecht and Flanders on the one hand and from Bremen and Stade on the other used the shipping route via Vecht, Almere (later Zuiderzee) and Vlie for traffic and trade. From the 13th century, merchants from Bremen and from the Zuiderzee are found side by side in Norway and Scania trading in fish. In the 15th century, merchants of Kampen bought grain in Bremen, whereas merchants of Bremen purchased cloth in Deventer. Furthermore, Kampen, Deventer and Zwolle mediated in Bremen’s quarrels with merchants from Osnabrück and Cologne, with the town of Groningen and especially with Antwerpen. In the 16th century, the political and economic situation of the Zuiderzee towns changed radically, as they were first incorporated into the state of emperor Charles V, and then joined the Republic of the United Netherlands. At the same time, Bremen’s trade shifted to West Friesland and Amsterdam. Thus the intermediary position of the Zuiderzee Hanse towns – poised between Bremen and Holland – came to an end.

The iliosacral joint in lizards: an osteological and histological analysis

The development of the iliosacral joint (ISJ) in tetrapods represented a crucial step in the evolution of terrestrial locomotion. This structure is responsible for transferring forces between the vertebral column and appendicular skeleton, thus supporting the bodyweight on land. However, most research dealing with the water-to-land transition and biomechanical studies in general has focused exclusively on the articulation between the pelvic girdle and femur. Our knowledge about the contact between the pelvic girdle and vertebral column (i.e. the ISJ) at a tissue level is restricted so far to human anatomy, with little to no information available on other tetrapods. This lack of data limits our understanding of the development and evolution of such a key structure, and thus on the pattern and processes of the evolution of terrestrial locomotion. Therefore, we investigated the macro- and microanatomy of the ISJ in limb-bearing squamates that, similar to most non-mammalian, non-avian tetrapods, possess only two sacral ribs articulating with the posterior process of the ilium. Using a combination of osteology, micro-computed tomography and histology, we collected data on the ISJ apparatus of numerous specimens, sampling different taxa and different ontogenetic stages. Osteologically, we recorded consistent variability in all three processes of the ilium (preacetabular, supracetabular and posterior) and sacral ribs that correlate with posture and locomotion. The presence of a cavity between the ilium and sacral ribs, abundant articular cartilage and fibrocartilage, and a surrounding membrane of dense fibrous connective tissue allowed us to define this contact as a synovial joint. By comparison, the two sacral ribs are connected to each other mostly by dense fibrous tissue, with some cartilage found more distally along the margins of the two ribs, defining this joint as a combination of a syndesmosis and synchondrosis. Considering the intermediary position of the ISJ between the axial and appendicular skeletons, the shape of the articular surfaces of the sacral ribs and ilium, and the characteristics of the muscles associated with this structure, we argue that the mobility of the ISJ is primarily driven by the movements of the hindlimb during locomotion. We hypothesize that limited torsion of the ilium at the ISJ happens when the hip is abducted, and the joint is likely able to absorb the compressional and extensional forces related to the protraction and retraction of the femur. The mix of fibres and cartilage between the two sacral ribs instead serves primarily as a shock absorber, with the potential for limited vertical translation during locomotion.

Info-Relational Cognitive Operability of the Posterior Cingulate Cortex According to the Informational Model of Consciousness

Based on the analysis of the accumulated experimental data and on the informational concepts of the Informational Model of Consciousness (IMC), in this article is presented an informational modeling of the operability of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Examination of the experimental results obtained with the modern non-destructive, high spatial resolution investigation tools to study the functional characteristics of the PCC and associate metabolic processes, shows mainly that this is involved in the large scale default mode network (DMN), composed primarily by PCC, medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and the inferior parietal lobe (IPL), displaying an increased activity under passive task conditions (i.e. negative mode). This operability mode is in an opposing balance with attention and task performances mode, acting thus as a disruption process. One of the main conclusions is that the PCC cognitive orientation is primarily focused on the self person or on the “self” (I) projected from others, in “daydreaming” or “mind-wandering" wakeful rest, involved in present or future virtual projects. In spite of these advances, the particular role and specific functions of PCC are not yet fully understood, PCC remaining an enigmatic/contradictory structure of the brain, not included up to date in any brain model, so the PCC informational modeling presented here in terms of IMC covers this lack. IMC assigns to the brain the fundamental role of informational processor, composed by various operating structures according to specific objectives synthetically expressed by seven main cognitive centers of “self" (I) as: Iknow (memory), Iwant (decision), Ilove (emotions), Iam (self-status), Icreate (genetic transmission), Icreated (genetic inheritance), Ibelive (info-selection), assuring the info-connectivity with the body and external/internal world, the adaptability (learning process) and survival. It is deduced in this way that the specific behavior of PCC according to its intermediary architectural position between the vital central region of the brain, connecting the mind with the external/internal reality, is that of a moderator/integrator hub/informational YES/NO switcher from the external/awake captured focusing information to the internal accumulated experience of life, used as a valid reference. Therefore, the specific operability of PCC in terms of cognitive centers is that of an informational switcher, mainly operating with Iknow/Iwant to explore the self-status reflected in Iam, within day-dreaming/imaginary virtual sceneries.