International Star Research Articles

Research and Higher Education: UK as International Star and Closet European?

AbstractThe research and higher education sectors have an exemplary place in the referendum debate. They were not part of the David Cameron renegotiation package, but stakeholders in favour of Remain have disrupted the consensus that in these sectors the EU's role is relatively unimportant and that the UK's achievements can be explained in national terms. The article seeks to explain, first, the change in political dynamics that has brought the EU connections out of the shadows in these sectors, and second, what these sectors risk losing by Brexit. It suggests that the campaign has made the case for a causal relationship between the UK's higher education and research achievements and its global reach and has shown how these sectoral policies are embedded in the EU's foundational principles of freedom of movement and non‐discrimination. There are also signs that EU membership may come to matter to students, a politically important group, for reasons which range from freedom of movement to conflict prevention.

From Nobody to Nobel laureate? The case of Werner Forßmann

The surgeon and urologist Werner Forßmann (1904-1979) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1956. At the time of the prize ceremony, several newspapers portrayed Forssmann as an unknown rural physician who suddenly had become an international star. Drawing on nominations and reports in the Nobel Prize Archive for Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm as well as correspondence from the private archive of the Forßmann family, this paper reconstructs why the Nobel Committee chose to award Forßmann. We show that Forssmann's work was appreciated in medical textbooks and that he enjoyed a relatively sound reputation in the international scientific community even before he became a Nobel Prize laureate. At a more general level, we use his example to explore some mechanisms of scientific recognition.

NICU Helping Hands: Supporting Families Through the Whole Journey.

Parents are the pure focus of NICU Helping Hands (NHH), an organization that started in Texas in 2011. Whether a family is in need of the basic necessities, support, or even a special burial gown for their infant, NHH is there. Learn how this nonprofit has gone from regional to international star in a short amount of time and how it can help your NICU.

British Asian music and its networks: Notes from a music-making workshop at the Apache Indian Music Academy, Handsworth, UK

British Asian music is a phenomenon that not only involves the scenes of entertainment, but has opened its doors to the educational panorama too. Due to the crisis this industry is facing, British Asian musician and practitioners met during the BASS ‘Made in Britain’ Festival in Birmingham, to debate the future of this industry within the local and international arenas. Led by the international Reggae star Apache Indian, the activities at the school have produced important reflections on the status of this musical landscape. This paper, via social and cultural analysis, narrates the event, and sets a series of questions on the future evolution of the British Asian music industry.

Film Review: Celebrating Old Age in Music - Quartet, directed by Dustin Hoffman, 2012

Recently older people have been the target of filmmakers and marketing campaigns; the concept of the “grey pound” has become a potentially significant attraction encouraging filmmakers to explore issues relating to age and ageing in mainstream films. The recent success of films such as Mamma Mia and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel have made a significant impact on the box office, and Amour securing the 2013 Palm D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, proved that an older audience is eager to watch films with mature characters and about issues that are relevant and meaningful to them. Actor Dustin Hoffman chose the play, Quartet by Ronald Harwood, to make his directorial debut. Set in “Beecham House,” a residential home for retired musicians, Hoffman explores brilliantly the diversity of octogenarians. The home is under the threat of closure unless the residents raise a substantial amount of money to keep it open, and their cunning plan to do that is by organizing a charitable evening gala featuring the music of Giuseppe Verdi’s famous quartet. The arrival of a new resident, Jean Horton (Maggie Smith), a retired international soprano star, creates tension and rivalry among the residents as well as bringing old romantic memories to the surface. Acknowledging the heterogeneity of the older population, we see a whole range of interesting characters from the flirting old man Wilfred (Billy Connolly), suffering from prostate problems, to the dominant music conductor Cedric (Michael Gambon), to Cissy (Pauline Collins), the insecure forgetful woman. In a series of light-hearted but illuminating scenes, the dynamics of the four main characters who struggle with their respective past personal tragedies and infidelities are displayed. It is clear that these older people are neither angels nor villains, and in spite of their talents and earlier stage success, they are simply human beings afraid of failure and ridicule as anyone else. Where the film excels is in the superb portrayal of the resilience and creativity of old age. However, it does not shy away from depicting reality in its harshness. For these characters, living in a retirement home is not at all like living in a fairy world of music and entertainment as the physical frailty and cognitive decline of ageing inevitably set in. However, Ludwig van Beethoven continued to compose and perform music even after he became totally deaf, and the characters in this film continue to make music and perform in public events even after their musical heydays have long passed away. J Med Humanit (2014) 35:353–354 DOI 10.1007/s10912-014-9296-2

Debating German Cultural Identity since 1989 ed. by Anne Fuchs, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, and Linda Shortt (review)

Reviewed by: Debating German Cultural Identity since 1989 ed. by Anne Fuchs, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, and Linda Shortt Elke Segelcke Debating German Cultural Identity since 1989. Edited by Anne Fuchs, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, and Linda Shortt. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2011. Pp. 256. Cloth $80.00. ISBN 978-1571134868. Ever since unification, issues of German cultural identity, national history and memory have become especially prevalent. The twelve essays of this well-researched volume emerged from an international conference in Dublin on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. They include contributions by scholars from the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, and Germany who examine the question of German cultural identity in the post-wall era from multiple disciplinary, geographic and ethnic perspectives. While most other anthologies related to the continuing public-political discourse on identity, history, memory, and generational shifts in German culture focus on literary and cinematic representations of the events since 1989, this volume also gives voice to historians, sociologists, art historians, and scholars of urban studies who provide multiple and diverse responses to unification. Tied to the book’s overarching emphasis on the ongoing controversies about contemporary German cultural identity is the central argument that, contrary to the discourse on normalization, German identity remains ethnically and politically fractured and subjected to “memory contests” regarding the recent past (a concept first developed with reference to the controversies about the National Socialist past in an edited volume of 2006 by Anne Fuchs, Mary Cosgrove, and Georg Grote). The substantive introduction discusses some recent public disputes, including the rebuilding of Berlin’s Schloss, Germany’s integration politics and the legacy of the GDR, thereby providing extensive contextualization for the ensuing essays. The first three chapters, organized under the main heading “Historical and Sociological Reflections: 1989 and the Rehabilitation of German History,” open with Peter Fritzsche’s essay which problematizes the general notion of history, historicity, and chronology with reference to “the internal logic of past systems” in light of the surprising and rapid events of 1989, thereby analyzing the subsequent “competing models of historical explanation.” Pertti Ahonen adds another historical dimension by examining the trials of East German border guards in the context of the disputes on German victimhood and addressing their far-reaching effects on “the transition to a new, united Germany.” From a sociological perspective, Jennifer Jordan reveals [End Page 477] the significance of food (in particular apples) in Germany’s identity-transformations and continuities as “a site of collective memory” in East and West, positing that the construction of a German national identity happened not in opposition to, but rather through, regional identities constitutive for Heimat sentiments. The four chapters of the second part of the volume focus on “Architectural and Filmic Mediations: Germany in Transit and the Urban Condition,” beginning with Andrew Webber’s contribution to the topographical turn in Cultural Studies (in reference to his previous study Berlin in the Twentieth Century: A Cultural Topography [2008]) which argues that in Petzold’s film Gespenster urban spaces in the New Berlin are recast as sites of contested personal and national memory, mediating “the haunting hold of historical legacies” in the post-unification capital. In the context of the debates on migration, public memory and Germanness, Deniz Göktürk analyzes earlier stagings of the Berlin Wall in Turkish cinema from a transnational perspective, pointing out “the correlation of migration and national identity” in postwar German history which until now went unacknowledged in commemorations of German unification. The last two authors of this section focus respectively on Berlin’s and Dresden’s architectural reconstruction from an art historian’s point of view. Kathleen James-Chakraborty provides insight into the debates over the construction of a new architectural identity in a reunited Germany and highlights how international star architects with their creation of new landmarks responded to the “palimpsest of Berlin’s many layered political and architectural pasts” (a reference to Andreas Huyssen’s 2003 study) by transforming the city’s architectural legacy of modernism into “an instrument of memory” without, however, a recourse to historicism. In contrast, Jürgen Paul’s investigation of Dresden’s reconstruction of its old center and Frauenkirche (in...

Fräulein Setsuko Hara: constructing an international film star in nationalist contexts

Hara Setsuko is today seen as one of the great female icons of the ‘Golden Age’ of Japanese cinema. Relatively little attention has been paid, however, to the early formation of her star persona in the mid-1930s, historically a pivotal time for Japan and hence for Hara, due to the close connection between the nation's social history and its stars. At a time of profound change of the national self-image, Hara was catapulted into stardom by a film closely, but not exclusively, related to politics. This star-constructing took place in, and utilized, an international environment, aiming at making Hara Japan's ‘first international film star’ at a time of increasingly fierce nationalism. This article traces the transnational origin of Hara's career, arguing that the subsequent ability of her star image to signify ‘Japaneseness’ in all its variations (militarism, post-war democracy, nostalgia for times past) without losing its authenticity in the face of apparent contradictions is based in this event. Hara's star image mirrors the question of what Japan is or should be, because it was constructed out of this very discourse of international aspirations, national desires and a transnational context.

Ian Gilron: pain killer

Ian Gilron: pain killer

The Biggest Star of All

In 2010, the Indian elephant (elephas maximus indica) was declared a National Heritage Animal, in view of its contribution to Indian culture and history. It is not surprising that the elephant features in Hindi film, but it is striking that it features in a range of genres, including the mythological, the historical, the social film and features in several children’s films, a rare genre in Indian cinema. In these films the elephant is shown to have a complex status, being divine, especially in association with the elephant-headed god Ganesha, as a moral and noble animal with human qualities, as well as a working animal participating in warfare and in circuses. The elephant’s qualities are often contrasted with those of humans, with the elephant always esteemed for its moral rectitude, its devotion, its dedication and its sense of joy. The elephant has names and characters but it does not appear as an animal outside the realms of humans and anthropomorphic gods (with even Ganesha having a humanlike body). However, although the Hindi film cannot feature the elephant’s current status as an endangered species whose only predator is man, it does create an interest and empathy for this symbolically significant animal. This article explores these representations in films, including animated films (My friend Ganesha, 2007), mythological films about Ganesha (Shri Ganesh Mahima, 1950); children’s films (Haathi mere saathi, 1971; Safed haathi, 1978); historical films (Mughal-e Azam, 1960; Jodhaa Akbar, 2008), and as a forestry worker (Munimji,1955; Pakeezah, 1971), including in one of the earliest feature films shot in India, which produced India’s first international star, Sabu: Elephant boy, 1937.

Trespassing, Crisis, and Renewal: Li Yugang and Cross-Dressing Performance

As an important representative of cross-dressing performance in Chinese popular culture, Li Yugang (李玉刚) is highly acclaimed both in and outside China for his impersonation of well-known beauties in Chinese history and literature. By interweaving Peking Opera with elements of popular culture, Li Yugang has won the recognition of both market and mainstream cultures, successfully adding a modern edge to the traditional art. Like reality television shows in the West, Li Yugang’s cross-dressing performances tend to use sensationalism to attract viewers and to increase advertising revenue, benefitting from mass media like television and the Internet, and vice versa. While a capitalist logic is at work in Li Yugang’s rise as a national and international star and icon of Chinese popular culture, his popularity may also be read positively as a symbol of liminality for progress and liberalization in present Chinese society. The cross-dressing performance transgresses the boundaries between man and woman, traditional and modern, local and global, marginal and mainstream. The crisis of categories that this trespassing entails has proven significant for cultural reform and renewal. Li Yugang’s story of transformation from grass roots to mainstream demonstrates the possibilities of success for talented and aspiring individuals. Furthermore, he should be applauded for his contribution to the internationalization of Chinese culture. Having made many successful tours in a number of countries, he has played an important role in promoting cross-cultural exchanges and understandings. From the perspective of gender theory, Li Yugang and Chinese cross-dressing performance both support and challenge the concept of gender performativity, both decontextualize and localize Western theories of transvestism.

Arturo de Córdova y la crisis del matrimonio burgués. De las perfectas casadas y las cenas de matrimonios (1952 y 1962)

Arturo de Cordova was an international Mexican film star that managed to participate in Mexico, Argentina and Spain cinemas. His career was possible in a transnational cinema that achieved to reach to a wide Spanish speaking audience. In these films, he developed a character that went from the romantic male star to the mature seducer that will have an important role in the post-war middleclass society. He will act as a medium character between active businessman and their wives that will not admit the daily housework and be kept in a private sphere as norm. The analysis will be focussed on two plays that were adapted to the cinema. These plays were written by two Spanish authors; Alejandro Casona in Mexico and Alfonso Paso in Spain, and they were shot in these countries as Las tres perfectas casadas (1952) and Cena de matrimonios (1962). The dramatic similarity in their approach to the conflict between men and women allow us to present the critical view elaborated against the conventions that gave structure to marriage in this society. The fact that De Cordova played the main role points out the Hispanic shared culture about genre matters.

Oh Blessed Holy Caffeine Tree: Coffee in Popular Music

Oh Blessed Holy Caffeine Tree: Coffee in Popular Music

Investigation of low-temperature fixed points by an international star intercomparison of sealed triple-point cells

An overview of the results of an international star intercomparison of low-temperature fixed points is given. Between 1997 and 2005, 68 sealed triple-point cells (STPCs) of the twelve laboratories represented by the authors were investigated at PTB. The STPCs are used to realize the triple points of hydrogen, neon, oxygen and argon as defining fixed points of the International Temperature Scale of 1990, ITS-90. The melting curves (MCs) of all STPCs have been measured on the same experimental equipment, adhering strictly to a single measurement program. This protocol enables separation of the effects influencing the MCs and direct comparison of the thermal behaviour of the STPCs, which are quite different with respect to design, age, gas source and filling technology. In the paper, special emphasis is given to the spread of the liquidus-point temperatures and to the uncertainty of their determination. Connections between the star intercomparison and completed and ongoing international activities are also discussed.

Rhythms of resurrection: The comebacks of Ruth St. Denis

Ruth St. Denis (1879–1968) had one of the first and longest careers as a professional modern dancer. At age 62, she embarked on a “comeback” that lasted nearly three decades, appearing on stage and screen in the dances that had made her an international star earlier in her career. This essay examines the relationship between her well-known “Orientalism,” her feminism, her spirituality, and her perspective on aging and ageism. In particular, it brings into relief her innovative efforts to redefine dance as a feminist project at the intersection of aging and modern dance history. St. Denis converted “oriental tradition” into a feminist dance praxis, thus, staking a claim for the aging dancer under the banner of feminist politics.

Fans and Followers

Presenting a case study of the Ghanaian charismatic-Pentecostal celebrity-pastor Mensa Otabil, this article explores processes of marketing and mass mediating charisma in the making of religious celebrity. In order to grasp the convincing force of this ‘Man of God’, it moves beyond classical Weberian and theological understandings of charisma by looking at styling, marketing, and branding strategies. Thus analyzing ‘the making of’ religious celebrity in the broader context of Ghana’s religious arena, the secular celebrity scene, and global charismatic Christianity, it argues that while part of the global charismatic movement with its jet set leaders and high tech styling, Ghanaian charismatic celebrities are also rooted in traditional modes of religious ‘celebrity’. Otabil’s charisma—or his fans’ and followers’ perception of his supernatural giftedness—derives largely from his being (crafted as) a national and international star. Despite clear similarities to ‘secular’ stardom, the specificity of religious celebrity lies, in the case of Ghanaian pastors, in how the contagious aura of celebrity connects to traditional beliefs in the power of religious specialists. The religious authority of African ‘Men of God’ such as Otabil thrives, I argue, on an embodied fusion of the mass mediated and marketed charisma of modern celebrity and the perceived power of traditional shrine priests as intermediaries between the human and the spirit world. The magical aura of celebrity at work in the transmission of Holy Spirit power through the ‘Man of God’ to his followers is fragile though, perpetually challenged by the possible visibility of ‘the making of’ threatening to undermine Otabil’s authenticity.

Improving standards for paediatric clinical trials

Improving standards for paediatric clinical trials

Improved Thermal Model for the Realization of the Triple Points of Cryogenic Gases as Temperature Fixed Points

The realization of the triple points of the cryogenic gases hydrogen, neon, oxygen, and argon as temperature fixed points at the highest level of accuracy requires consideration of the special properties of these fixed-point substances, as done in a general measurement protocol published elsewhere. The protocol is applied to the apparatus and methodology used for an international star intercomparison of sealed fixed-point cells. A generalized thermal model is developed to include the coexistence of different solid–liquid interfaces and various thermal resistances. This results in further components in the detailed uncertainty budget for the correction of the measuring power of the thermometer and for the extrapolation to the liquidus point. As a basis for an optimum fixed-point realization, especially an explanation is given why extremely long time periods may be necessary for the thermal recovery after pulses of the intermittent heating used for the calorimetric method.

Investigation of the Parameters of Sealed Triple-Point Cells for Cryogenic Gases

An overview of the parameters of a large number of sealed triple-point cells for the cryogenic gases hydrogen, oxygen, neon, and argon is given that have been determined within the framework of an international star intercomparison to optimize the measurement of melting curves as well as to establish complete and reliable uncertainty budgets for the realization of temperature fixed points. Special emphasis is given to the question, whether the parameters are primarily influenced by the cell design or the properties of the fixed-point samples. For explaining surprisingly large periods of the thermal recovery after the heat pulses of the intermittent heating through the melting range, a simple model is developed based on a newly defined heat-capacity equivalent, which considers the heat of fusion and a melting-temperature inhomogeneity. The analysis of the recovery using a graded set of exponential functions containing different time constants is also explained in detail.

CaMKII, the Downstream Hypertrophic Signaling Pathway in the Heart: The 2009 Benedict R. Lucchesi Distinguished Lectureship Award

CaMKII, the Downstream Hypertrophic Signaling Pathway in the Heart: The 2009 Benedict R. Lucchesi Distinguished Lectureship Award

Coming to America: Historical Ontologies and United States Soccer

In January 2007, English international soccer star David Beckham announced to a global media that he would be leaving the Spanish giants Real Madrid to join Major League Soccer's (MLS) Los Angeles Galaxy. MLS Commissioner Don Garber feted Beckham as a global sporting icon whose presence attested to America's gradual transformation into a ‘Soccer Nation.’ However, following LA Galaxy's acquisition, a debate surrounding soccer's previous failure to compete at the highest echelons of American professional sport reappeared. Academic and journalistic commentators identified a number of obstacles—historical, socioeconomic and ideological—that have prevented soccer from gaining a foothold in the United States sporting market and therein becoming a credible adversary to the holy trinity of Gridiron Football, Baseball, and Basketball. This article, drawing upon Ian Hacking's prescriptions for Historical Ontology (2002) and thereby foregrounding issues of identity and power, seeks to analyse the impediments that have marked soccer's development in the United States and that led to the recruitment of Beckham as the sporting celebrity-cum-commercial juggernaut intended to bring MLS to the attention of a mass audience—variegated in terms of class, ‘race,’ and gender—so coveted by leaders of the organisation.