Late style and speaking out: J A Symonds's In the Key of Blue

This article examines In the Key of Blue (1893)—an essay collection by John Addington Symonds—as a case study in queer public utterance during the early 1890s. Viewed through the critical lens of late style, as theorised by Edward Said, the evolution of this project, from compilation through to reader reception, reveals Symonds's determination to “speak out” on the subject of homosexuality. Paradoxically, In the Key of Blue was thus a timely and untimely work: it belonged to a brief period of increased visibility and expressiveness when dealing with male same-sex desire, spearheaded by a younger generation of Decadent writers, but it also cut against the grain of nineteenth-century social taboo and legal repression. Symonds's essay collection brought together new and previously unpublished work with examples of his writing for the periodical press. These new combinations, appearing together for the first time, served to facilitate new readings and new inferences, bringing homosexual themes to the fore. This article traces the dialogic structure of In the Key of Blue , its strategies for articulating homosexual desire, and examines the response of reviewers, from the hostile to celebratory

Cultural Diversty and the Department Chair: Gleanings from the Literature

This article synthesizes interdisciplinary scholarship to illuminate the implications of cultural diversity for departmental leadership in communication and performing arts. Through a critical literature review situated against contemporary geopolitical upheaval, the discussion maps the rapid expansion of intercultural communication research, identifies performing arts journals as emergent hubs of intercultural discourse, and problematizes notions of cultural purity. It argues that department chairs occupy a strategic nexus for cultivating multicultural pedagogy, inclusive recruitment, and global curricular integration while navigating organizational culture and resource constraints. The analysis foregrounds globalization, intercultural competence, and pluralistic governance as essential drivers of sustainable academic administration and urges sensitivity oriented leadership that fosters dialogue across cultural boundaries. By distilling theoretical perspectives and practical considerations, this article advances scholarship on higher education leadership in an increasingly interconnected world

An Apology for the Ph.D. Degree in Theatre: A Personal Retrospective

This article offers a personal, historically grounded defense of the PhD in theatre, contextualizing its erosion amid the ascendance of the Master of Fine Arts and changing higher education policy. Through narrative reflection, it documents the decline of doctoral programs, administrative neglect, and labor market contraction, then contrasts the scholarly rigor, disciplinary identity, and research oriented training of the PhD with the practice centered MFA. The discussion maps comprehensive curricular demands, foreign language proficiency, and dissertation requirements onto professional pathways, demonstrating how such breadth cultivates critical theory literacy, historiographic competence, and instructional versatility. Examining technological advances, demographic shifts, and renewed demand for faculty with deep research capacity, this article forecasts a resurgence of doctoral study and urges graduate curriculum planners, theatre administrators, and policy analysts to reassess degree structures, academic labor priorities, and the future of theatre scholarship

Theory of mind and social judgments in people at clinical high risk of psychosis

Social cognitive deficits are consistently reported in psychotic populations. Few studies have longitudinally investigated social cognition in clinical high-risk (CHR) populations

Assessment of social judgments and complex mental states in the early phases of psychosis

Social cognition plays an important role in the functioning of individuals with psychosis. In this study, we explored two areas of social cognition not previously investigated early in the course of psychosis

Genetic effects on gene expression across human tissues

Characterization of the molecular function of the human genome and its variation across individuals is essential for identifying the cellular mechanisms that underlie human genetic traits and diseases. The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project aims to characterize variation in gene expression levels across individuals and diverse tissues of the human body, many of which are not easily accessible. Here we describe genetic effects on gene expression levels across 44 human tissues. We find that local genetic variation affects gene expression levels for the majority of genes, and we further identify inter-chromosomal genetic effects for 93 genes and 112 loci. On the basis of the identified genetic effects, we characterize patterns of tissue specificity, compare local and distal effects, and evaluate the functional properties of the genetic effects. We also demonstrate that multi-tissue, multi-individual data can be used to identify genes and pathways affected by human disease-associated variation, enabling a mechanistic interpretation of gene regulation and the genetic basis of disease.Postprint (published version

Affect recognition in people at clinical high risk of psychosis

Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate stable deficits in affect recognition. Similar deficits in affect recognition have been observed in those who are at clinical high risk (CHR) of developing psychosis. The current project aimed to longitudinally examine affect processing in CHR individuals, to determine if affect processing predicted later conversion to psychosis and if affect processing deficits were unique to those who met established criteria for prodromal syndromes. The sample consisted of 172 CHR and 100 help-seeking individuals (HS) who were followed for up to 24 months. All CHR individuals met the Criteria of Prodromal States (COPS) based on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms (SIPS). The SIPS was used to determine conversion to psychosis. Affect recognition was assessed using two facial affect recognition tasks and a measure of affective prosody. In comparison to previously published data from non-psychiatric controls, both CHR and HS groups demonstrated deficits on affect recognition. By 2 years 25 CHR participants converted to psychosis. Interestingly, there were no differences between converters and non-converters on any affect recognition tasks. This is one of the first studies to longitudinally examine affect processing and its relationship to later conversion to psychosis in individuals at-risk for psychosis. While poorer affect recognition may be associated with vulnerability for psychosis, the current results suggest that it may not be a marker of developing a psychotic illness

Social cognition as a mediator between neurocognition and functional outcome in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

In schizophrenia, neurocognition, social cognition and functional outcome are all inter-related, with social cognition mediating the impact that impaired neurocognition has on functional outcome. Less clear is the nature of the relationship between neurocognition, social cognition and functional outcome in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. 137 CHR participants completed a neurocognitive test battery, a battery of social cognition tasks and the Social Functioning Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all social cognition tasks were reliable and valid measures of the latent variable. The path from neurocognition to functioning was statistically significant (standardized coefficient β = 0.22, p <0.01). The path from social cognition to functioning was also statistically significant (β= 0.27, p<0.05). In the mediation model the bootstrapping estimate revealed a nonsignificant indirect effect that was the association of social cognition with neurocognition and with functional outcome (β =0.20, 95% CI =−0.07 to 0.52, p=0.11). However, social cognition was significantly associated with neurocognition (β = 0.80, p < 0.001) and the path from neurocognition to functioning was no longer significant as soon as the mediator (social cognition) was entered into the mediation model (β = 0.02, p = 0.92). All of the model fit indices were very good. Unlike what has been observed with psychotic patients, social cognition does not seem to mediate the pathway from neurocognition to functional outcome when assessed with a measure of social attainment in individuals at CHR for psychosis

Comprehensive Versus Usual Community Care for First-Episode Psychosis: 2-Year Outcomes From the NIMH RAISE Early Treatment Program

The primary aim was to compare the impact of NAVIGATE, a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, team-based treatment approach for first episode psychosis designed for implementation in the U.S. healthcare system, to Community Care on quality of life

Global Surveillance of Emerging Influenza Virus Genotypes by Mass Spectrometry

Effective influenza surveillance requires new methods capable of rapid and inexpensive genomic analysis of evolving viral species for pandemic preparedness, to understand the evolution of circulating viral species, and for vaccine strain selection. We have developed one such approach based on previously described broad-range reverse transcription PCR/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (RT-PCR/ESI-MS) technology.Analysis of base compositions of RT-PCR amplicons from influenza core gene segments (PB1, PB2, PA, M, NS, NP) are used to provide sub-species identification and infer influenza virus H and N subtypes. Using this approach, we detected and correctly identified 92 mammalian and avian influenza isolates, representing 30 different H and N types, including 29 avian H5N1 isolates. Further, direct analysis of 656 human clinical respiratory specimens collected over a seven-year period (1999-2006) showed correct identification of the viral species and subtypes with >97% sensitivity and specificity. Base composition derived clusters inferred from this analysis showed 100% concordance to previously established clades. Ongoing surveillance of samples from the recent influenza virus seasons (2005-2006) showed evidence for emergence and establishment of new genotypes of circulating H3N2 strains worldwide. Mixed viral quasispecies were found in approximately 1% of these recent samples providing a view into viral evolution.Thus, rapid RT-PCR/ESI-MS analysis can be used to simultaneously identify all species of influenza viruses with clade-level resolution, identify mixed viral populations and monitor global spread and emergence of novel viral genotypes. This high-throughput method promises to become an integral component of influenza surveillance