Dragon Rhyme by Chen Yi

Russell McCutcheon, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands in the Sunderman Conservatory of Music, published an analysis of Dragon Rhyme , a major new composition for wind band, by composer Chen Yi in Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Volume 9

"The Common Ground On Which Students of Religion Meet": Methodology and Theory Within the IAHR

Only thanks to the guiding lights and the overwhelming majority of the members of the International Association for the History of Religions have the most recent world congresses of this body avoided slipping into congresses of religion after the model of the Parliament held in Chicago in 1893. If the history of religions is to preserve its spirit and further its autonomy, it must not only work out the peculiarities of its methods, it must also revive its religio-critical, or rather, its ideological function. - Kurt RudolphThe Need for Theories of ReligionApart from the meetings of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR), that coincide with both the American Academy of Religion's (AAR) and the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion's (SSSR) annual meetings, North American scholars have traditionally had few opportunities for meeting and discussing issues of theory and methodology with their colleagues in the wider field. Other than such sessions at the AAR's annual meetings for the History of the Study of Religion and Critical Theory 2 , there are few avenues for engaging in methodological critique and, perhaps more importantly, for developing and debating the merits of various theories of religion. Certainly there exist those well known publications on methods and theories rightly associated with the Chicago School in the History of Religions 3 , but they are generally limited to issues of description, interpretation, and understanding and remain completely devoid of efforts to develop explanations and theories of religion.

The Domestication of Dissent: Pundits' Contributions to the War on Terrorism

Using as an example a workshop on Islam sponsored by his own university, the author argues that the search for the essential heart of any social movement is a political edeavor insomuch as it is a form of classification that dehistoricizes complex mass social movements, representing them in ways that further the interests of those who carry out the classification

Massive Genomic Decay in Serratia symbiotica, a Recently Evolved Symbiont of Aphids

All vertically transmitted bacterial symbionts undergo a process of genome reduction over time, resulting in tiny, gene-dense genomes. Comparison of genomes of ancient bacterial symbionts gives only limited information about the early stages in the transition from a free-living to symbiotic lifestyle because many changes become obscured over time. Here, we present the genome sequence for the recently evolved aphid symbiont Serratia symbiotica. The S. symbiotica genome exhibits several of the hallmarks of genome evolution observed in more ancient symbionts, including elevated rates of evolution and reduction in genome size. The genome also shows evidence for massive genomic decay compared with free-living relatives in the same genus of bacteria, including large deletions, many pseudogenes, and a slew of rearrangements, perhaps promoted by mobile DNA. Annotation of pseudogenes allowed examination of the past and current metabolic capabilities of S. symbiotica and revealed a somewhat random process of gene inactivation with respect to function. Analysis of mutational patterns showed that deletions are more common in neutral DNA. The S. symbiotica genome provides a rare opportunity to study genome evolution in a recently derived heritable symbiont

An Automated Method for the Detection and Extraction of HI Self-Absorption in High-Resolution 21cm Line Surveys

We describe algorithms that detect 21cm line HI self-absorption (HISA) in large data sets and extract it for analysis. Our search method identifies HISA as spatially and spectrally confined dark HI features that appear as negative residuals after removing larger-scale emission components with a modified CLEAN algorithm. Adjacent HISA volume-pixels (voxels) are grouped into features in (l,b,v) space, and the HI brightness of voxels outside the 3-D feature boundaries is smoothly interpolated to estimate the absorption amplitude and the unabsorbed HI emission brightness. The reliability and completeness of our HISA detection scheme have been tested extensively with model data. We detect most features over a wide range of sizes, linewidths, amplitudes, and background levels, with poor detection only where the absorption brightness temperature amplitude is weak, the absorption scale approaches that of the correlated noise, or the background level is too faint for HISA to be distinguished reliably from emission gaps. False detection rates are very low in all parts of the parameter space except at sizes and amplitudes approaching those of noise fluctuations. Absorption measurement biases introduced by the method are generally small and appear to arise from cases of incomplete HISA detection. This paper is the third in a series examining HISA at high angular resolution. A companion paper (Paper II) uses our HISA search and extraction method to investigate the cold atomic gas distribution in the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey.Comment: 39 pages, including 14 figure pages; to appear in June 10 ApJ, volume 626; figure quality significantly reduced for astro-ph; for full resolution, please see http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/~gibson/hisa/cgps1_survey

Beyond the Insider—Outsider Perspective: The Study of Religion as a Study of Discourse Construction

This essay reflects on contemporary theorizing of religion which embodies an explicit critique of the imperial project, seeing that by most common consent the scholarly disciplinary field of religious studies (history of religion, phenomenology of religion, Religionswissenschaft) is a late nineteenth century invention that coincides with the emergence of anthropology and ethnography as epiphenomena of the colonial project (whether as Orientalism or as exoticism the Other is rendered manageable subjects). The scholarly study of religion is, therefore, simultaneously a study of the history of theory and concept formation, and the social, cultural, and political work performed by such study and theorizing. The metatheory of the study of religion is a main focus of the essay. Alongside that, the essay focuses more pointedly on the concept of discourse, and considers the extraordinary situation where the same methodological vocabulary that functions in religious studies also functions in critical theological studies, which relativizes the division of ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ perspectives. Yet both are conventionally practised either in isolation from each other as distinct theoretical and disciplinary bounded/defined study fields, or—the other and almost direct opposite—religious studies being performed in the context of theological study, situated in and offered by theological faculties. An overview of recent debates in the field of religious studies serves to highlight the continued struggle to demarcate the boundaries between the study of religion and the study of theology—in some of the recent, very strident debates mainstream religious studies is labelled as nothing more than theology. This contribution, then, aims at a kind of metatheoretical reflection on the study of religion and theology both as discourses that serve mythmaking, identity formation, culturally strategic purposes. That is, from the discourse perspective that is proposed here, it is possible to move beyond the definitional divide between religious studies and theology—even beyond ‘religion’ itself—to focus on the mundanely material practices that constitute that which is called religion. In the way in which the terms are used it is clear that the terminologies themselves bear the imprint of historical social discourses that occasioned the rise of their use. This essay, then, is something of a metacritique of the language of the study of religion—beyond religion, and beyond the study of religion and theology

Moving beyond methodising theory in preparing for the profession

For those preparing for outdoor education and related professions, formal theory has an important role to play in terms of informing professional practice and understandings of teaching-learning dynamics. Despite this, surprisingly little is understood about how pre-service outdoor educators (POEs) view and engage with it in their preparation courses. Drawing on findings of a case study in an Australian outdoor education teacher education (OETE) course, this article explores POE theory engagement focussing on a problematic tendency to methodise formal theory, that is, to treat theories as formula for action. The authors argue that this tendency is concerning because it ignores the complexity and problematic nature of both theory-practice relationships and outdoor education pedagogy. The discussion highlights contributing factors and implications for OETE, especially with respect to enabling aspiring outdoor educators in tertiary courses to move beyond methodising theory as they enter the outdoor profession

Off-target capture data, endosymbiont genes and morphology reveal a relict lineage that is sister to all other singing cicadas

Phylogenetic asymmetry is common throughout the tree of life and results from contrasting patterns of speciation and extinction in the paired descendant lineages of ancestral nodes. On the depauperate side of a node, we find extant ´relict´ taxa that sit atop long, unbranched lineages. Here, we show that a tiny, pale green, inconspicuous and poorly known cicada in the genus Derotettix, endemic to degraded salt-plain habitats in arid regions of central Argentina, is a relict lineage that is sister to all other modern cicadas. Nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies of cicadas inferred from probe-based genomic hybrid capture data of both target and non-target loci and a morphological cladogram support this hypothesis. We strengthen this conclusion with genomic data from one of the cicada nutritional bacterial endosymbionts, Sulcia, an ancient and obligate endosymbiont of the larger plant-sucking bugs (Auchenorrhyncha) and an important source of maternally inherited phylogenetic data. We establish Derotettiginae subfam. nov. as a new, monogeneric, fifth cicada subfamily, and compile existing and new data on the distribution, ecology and diet of Derotettix. Our consideration of the palaeoenvironmental literature and host-plant phylogenetics allows us to predict what might have led to the relict status of Derotettix over 100 Myr of habitat change in South America.Fil: Simon, Chris. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Gordon, Eric R. L.. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Moulds, M.S.. Australian Museum Research Institute; AustraliaFil: Cole, Jeffrey A.. Pasadena City College; Estados UnidosFil: Haji, Diler. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Lemmon, Alan R.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Lemmon, Emily Moriarty. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Kortyna, Michelle. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Nazario, Katherine. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Wade, Elizabeth J.. Curry College. Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Estados Unidos. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Meister, Russell C.. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Goemans, Geert. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Chiswell, Stephen M.. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Nueva ZelandaFil: Pessacq, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Veloso, Claudio. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: McCutcheon, John P.. University of Montana; Estados UnidosFil: Lukasik, Piotr. University of Montana; Estados Unidos. Swedish Museum of Natural History. Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics; Sueci

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Abnormalities in Response to Deletion of 11β-HSD1 is Strain-Dependent

Inter-individual differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity underlie differential vulnerability to neuropsychiatric and metabolic disorders, although the basis of this variation is poorly understood. 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) has previously been shown to influence HPA axis activity. 129/MF1 mice null for 11β-HSD1 (129/MF1 HSD1−/−) have greatly increased adrenal gland size and altered HPA activity, consistent with reduced glucocorticoid negative feedback. On this background, concentrations of plasma corticosterone and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) were elevated in unstressed mice, and showed a delayed return to baseline after stress in HSD1-null mice with reduced sensitivity to exogenous glucocorticoid feedback compared to same-background genetic controls. In the present study, we report that the genetic background can dramatically alter this pattern. By contrast to HSD1−/− mice on a 129/MF1 background, HSD1−/− mice congenic on a C57Bl/6J background have normal basal plasma corticosterone and ACTH concentrations and exhibit normal return to baseline of plasma corticosterone and ACTH concentrations after stress. Furthermore, in contrast to 129/MF1 HSD1−/− mice, C57Bl/6J HSD1−/− mice have increased glucocorticoid receptor expression in areas of the brain involved in glucocorticoid negative feedback (hippocampus and paraventricular nucleus), suggesting this may be a compensatory response to normalise feedback control of the HPA axis. In support of this hypothesis, C57Bl/6J HSD1−/− mice show increased sensitivity to dexamethasone-mediated suppression of peak corticosterone. Thus, although 11β-HSD1 appears to contribute to regulation of the HPA axis, the genetic background is crucial in governing the response to (and hence the consequences of) its loss. Similar variations in plasticity may underpin inter-individual differences in vulnerability to disorders associated with HPA axis dysregulation. They also indicate that 11β-HSD1 inhibition does not inevitably activate the HPA axis