bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New perspectives on ancient science
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: July 2009

Did science develop differently in different ancient civilisations, and if so, why? This article compares the development of medicine, mathematics and astronomy in ancient Greece and ancient China. It identifies certain significant differences in the way in which the problems were formulated and the aims and methods used to resolve them, and it relates these to the social institutions and values of the society within which the scientists work.
The explosion of the horizons
Authors: Pecker Jean-Claude
Published: July 2009

The recognition of the heliocentric motion of planets led to the geometrical determination, by Copernicus and Kepler, of the relative planetary distances. Completed by the determination of the true distance from the Earth to the Sun, by geometrical methods, this gave the total scale of distances in the planetary realm. In the years 1830–1840, the same geometrical methods could be applied to stars, the angular resolving power of telescopes having then greatly improved. This established the stellar world up to some hundreds of light-years, with well-determined distances. To go beyond, to the distant stars and to the galaxies, indirect methods were used, allowing a rather accurate gauge of the depths of the universe, up to some billions of light years. The penetration in depth leads naturally to the penetration back in time. The problem of timescales in the universe is one which is still debated, as the cosmologies presently available still contain many assumptions about the very notion of time. Neither the horizons nor the origins are yet within reach; we are merely extrapolating what is known; it is no longer pure astrophysics, but close to metaphysics.
Salome: a fin de siècle legend
Authors: Wright Barbara
Published: July 2009

The Salome legend developed as John the Baptist became the object of increased veneration. It was profoundly modified in the medieval and Renaissance periods. Well suited to Schopenhauerian misogyny and to the burgeoning interest in Freudian psychoanalysis, it became central to the fin de siècle in Western Europe. An instrument of self-reflection as well as of parody, the Salome legend has shown itself, in both the 19th and the 20th centuries, to be capable of ironic criticism and fertile pastiche, as well as of enigmatic mystery and deep psychological exploration.
Violence against parents in Swedish peasant society
Authors: Odén Birgitta
Published: July 2009

Modern research has shown that western law in the Middle Ages was strongly influenced by Mosaic law. This influence became even stronger in Sweden when the theocratic monarchy and the orthodox clergy, by an addendum to the law, also introduced the death penalty of the Pentateuch for crimes against ‘the law of God’, including violence and verbal abuse against elderly parents. Since all prosecutions for crimes requiring the death penalty had to be tried in the court of appeal, the records of the appeal courts give an overall picture of the application of the law during a 250-year period. Prosecutions for crimes against parents increased during this period from just a few cases to a hundred per year. The death sentence was mitigated in the higher courts. The trend can be interpreted as an enforcement wave, but also as an expression of serious social unrest and economic conflicts in peasant society in the first half of the 19th century.
Precious metals and mining in the New World: 1500–1800
Authors: Chaudhuri K. N.
Published: July 2009

The discovery of large quantities of gold and silver in the New World following the voyage of Christopher Columbus had a major impact on the subsequent history of the world economy. These two precious metals together with copper were regarded as the standard and measure of value in all societies throughout history. The sudden increase in the supply of gold and silver greatly increased the capacity of individual countries such as Spain and Portugal to finance wars and imports of consumer goods. The new Spanish coin, the real of eight, became an international currency for settling trade balances, and large quantities of these coins were exported to the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and China to purchase oriental commodities such as silk piece goods, cotton textiles, industrial raw material such as indigo, and various kinds of spices, later followed by tea, coffee, and porcelain. The trade in New World gold and silver depended on the development of new and adequate mining techniques in Mexico and Peru to extract the ore and refine the metal. South German mining engineers greatly contributed to the transplantation of European technology to the Americas, and the Spanish-American silver mines utilised the new mercury amalgamation method to extract refined silver from the raw ores. Although the techniques used in Mexico and Peru were not particularly advanced by contemporary European standards, the American mine owners remained in business for more than three hundred years, and the supply of American silver came to be the foundation of the newly rising Indian Ocean world economy in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The tradition of Roman law in Europe
Authors: Stein Peter
Published: July 2009

In antiquity, Roman law was a case-law system built up gradually through the creation and elaboration of specific remedies for particular fact-situations. The 6th century Byzantine emperor Justinian converted it into a collection of authoritative texts. They were rediscovered in the 12th century at Bologna and, since they provided arguments relevant to most problems of law and government, were studied in all European universities. Adapted by commentators, Roman law became a ius commune, which was ‘received’ to a greater or lesser degree into the national laws of modern European states.
Material values past and present
Authors: Vickers Michael
Published: July 2009

The attitudes of the ancient Greeks towards their material culture—so far as we can discover from their writings—was rather different from that of most modern students of the remains of classical antiquity. The Greeks esteemed gold and silver vessels, while many archaeologists still believe that they preferred painted pottery. This reversal of classical values came about through the entry of Utopian ideals into the mainstream of classical scholarship in the 18th century. Laudable in themselves, these ideals have led to a serious misunderstanding of the role of ceramic in antiquity. Prices for painted pottery were extremely low and it can hardly have been the vehicle for what the Ancients would have considered to be ‘Art’. It is ironic that the classical tradition has been subverted by many of those charged with the scholarly interpretation of the classical past.
Cellular genetic engineering of plants
Authors: Gleba Yuri
Published: July 2009

Manipulations with isolated plant cells represent a powerful technology for the genetic engineering of plants.
Text and image
Authors: Christin Anne-Marie
Published: July 2009

Interdisciplinary studies on ‘Text and Image’, which began in the 1970s, have now taken on a position of some importance. They pick up and develop those theories which, from the 15th to the 17th centuries, considered the association of the arts in terms of the Horatian ‘Ut pictura poesis’. These studies, however, confront a major theoretical difficulty, inherent in the retention of Euclidean categories in our conception of vision and painting. A comparison with cultures in which the ideogram flourishes—in particular those of China and Japan—should allow this difficulty to be resolved.
Traditions in the construction of cultural identity and strategies of ethnic survival
Authors: Honko Lauri
Published: July 2009

Cultures may be viewed as systems of elements constituted through the selection, interpretation and internalization of traditions by individuals and groups. Group identities may be viewed as cores of living tradition systems based on a limited number of key symbols and tales of identity. The cultural identities of Finno-Ugrian minorities in present-day Russia are at risk and uncertainty prevails concerning the strategies to be adopted in their defence. What are the cultural resources for ethnic survival and what principles may be discerned in a basic strategy that should be flexible enough to be modified according to thousands of different minority situations?
European community food processing industries
Authors: Martin Stephen
Published: July 2009

A review of market structure and firm conduct in European food processing industries, as well as the policies of Member State governments toward the movement of goods across borders, suggests that the pace of market integration in this section of the EU economy will be slower than sometimes predicted.
The transition of post-socialist cities
Authors: Enyedi György
Published: July 2009

After World War II, the European semi-periphery—southern, Mediterranean and the eastern one—underwent rapid industrialization and urbanization. During this process. East-Central European socialist countries also replicated the forms—but not the social content and mechanism—of earlier Western European urbanization. Post-socialist transition has introduced important changes into urban processes as follows: (a) growing inequalities; (b) development of transboundary relations and the beginning of city competition across the whole of Europe; (c) independent urban governments; (d) transformation of urban society; and (e) privatization of urban land and housing.
The future of the European city in the West and the East
Authors: Lichtenberger Elisabeth
Published: July 2009

The Eurometropolis is a new power, challenging the supranational role of Brussels. The territories of influence of such Eurometropolises extend outside individual nations. In federal systems they may be part of state organization, elsewhere they create networks of competition and co-operation, and have started to develop independent politics.
Scientific research—panacea or Pandora's Box
Authors: Dunitz Jack D.
Published: July 2009

Scientific research is unpredictable and may produce results that change the world—for better or for worse, it is impossible to say. Views and attitudes towards the benefits and dangers arising from the development of science have altered during the author's lifetime. Some questions are posed, but none are answered.
Harmonization versus competition between rules
Authors: Ehlermann Claus Dieter
Published: July 2009

In spite of the need for harmonisation resulting from the internal market, competition between rules has increased considerably during the last years. Several factors have contributed to this development, in particular the principle of mutual recognition, the new method for harmonisation, the decreasing sensitivity with respect to differences in the costs of production and the principle of subsidiarity. The use of the directive as the privileged instrument for harmonisation is contrary to the principle of subsidiarity at the level of control of Community rules. It is therefore appropriate to substitute framework regulations to directives in order to facilitate the control of implementation by interested individuals and companies.
The significance of silence
Authors: Rescher Nicholas
Published: July 2009

Well-timed silence has more eloquence than speech. Martin Farquhar Tupper

Silence can express nothing or be meaningful. It is meaningful only in a communicative setting and, in an environment of words, silence is often the instrument of choice to communicate without explicit expression. After the last word, ‘the rest is silence’.
Introduction: The Challenges facing liberal democracy and Political Parties at the Beginning of the 21st Century
Authors: Blondel Jean
Published: July 2009

Political parties are one of the most important inventions of the modern world. We may not regard them as we regard electricity, television, or aeroplanes, yet they are just as much as part of our life. If parties did not exist, what would elections be like? How would parliaments conduct their business? How would we choose politicians? In short, how would we organize politics? It might be felt that we can live without parties, indeed some countries do not have them so far, but all 'advanced' modern countries have them.
Representation and participation in the changing world of party politics
Authors: Mair Peter
Published: July 2009

The 20th-century has been the century of mass politics, and the mass parties that emerged at the beginning of this century became deeply rooted within wider society. The passing of this golden age of the party has now been marked by two distinct processes of change. On the one hand, parties have become more distant from society and more closely linked to government and the state. On the other hand, there has been a decline in the political identities of the parties, such that voters now find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between them. These changes, and the related transformation of politics into administration, have led to a growth in popular indifference to parties and to politics in general, as well as to a declining sense of engagement. Should this trend continue, it is mass spectacle rather than mass involvement that is likely to characterize the future of mass politics.
The new challengers: greens and right-wing populist parties in western Europe
Authors: Müller-Rommel Ferdinand
Published: July 2009

The decline in confidence in the traditional parties in Western Europe has manifested itself through the emergence of the Green parties on the Left and populist parties on the Right. Despite successes in some countries, these parties have remained small, although they have been able, respectively, to play on the growth of ‘post-materialist’ values on the Left, and of anti-immigrant sentiments on the Right. The prospects for these parties are not very good, in particular for the right-wing populist parties, which are highly dependent on the popularity of their leaders, and even for the Green parties, although these can exploit the internal divisions within Socialist parties between supporters of the ‘traditional’ Left and supporters of the ‘New’ Left.
Towards a concise history of South Africa
Authors: Ross Robert
Published: July 2009

This article discusses the problems inherent in writing a short historical survey of South Africa. Such surveys are periodically necessary in order to provide a perspective for monographic studies. This one is organized around the argument that South Africa, for all its internal divisions, has become a single country, and traces the processes of colonial conquest, economic integration and the ideological importance of mission Christianity through which this has come about. Furthermore, the recent changes in the South African governmental system provide a narrative conclusion that was not there in the past and which soon will be no more.
Language and Concepts of Identity
Authors: Quirk Randolph
Published: July 2009

People identify with other people on many different grounds: family, locality, religion, professional interests, even hobbies. But the group identity that has had particular influence over the past century or so has been the nation – and this has drawn especially on the identity of language. With the development of global commerce and the establishment of regional blocs like Asean, Nafta, and of course the EU, languages least associated with nationality may well be seen as best fitted to provide the requisite linkage.
Basic research for the future of Europe
Authors: Markl Hubert
Published: July 2009

Scientific research, a common heritage that laid the foundations of the modern world, stands as a unifying principle of Europe and is, among other values, a binding bridge to all nations. Being an inalienable part of humanity, the striving after knowledge embodied in scientific research is a necessary precondition if mankind is to handle successfully the consequences of globalized economies, a still growing world population with increasing life expectancies and the need for sustainable development. The European Science Foundation, with its flexible structure for promoting European cooperation in research can play an active part in supporting national governments and the European Union in formulating research policies and educational standards and in intensifying exchange and cooperation with the non-European countries.
Europe as an idea
Authors: Boer Pim Den
Published: July 2009

The idea of Europe has changed with time. The notion was originally identified with three concepts: that of freedom, of Christianity, and with civilization. Later it was associated with diversity, democracy and then with nationalism. Only very slowly has the idea of a common identity leading to integration come to the fore.
Good government and the historian
Authors: van Caenegem R. C.
Published: July 2009

The main constitutions with which medieval and modern Europe has experimented in the search for the best form of government are surveyed: most of them have now been relegated to the museum of legal antiques. However, constitutionalism and parliamentarianism proved to be permanent and are still highly valued acquisitions. The merits of a written constitution are discussed. This is followed by a presentation of the role of the nation state and its present embattled status. Can the past tell us what the best form of government is and, on the basis of the ‘Weber-thesis’, is there a link between political freedom and economic prosperity? The American controversy on capital punishment shows how the interpretation of the Constitution by the judicature can be a matter of life and death.
Scottish higher education and the Scottish parliament: the consequences of mistaken national identity
Authors: Paterson Lindsay
Published: July 2009

The creation of a Scottish parliament in 1999 will crystallize a cultural crisis for Scottish higher education. Scottish universities retained their autonomy after the 18th-century union between Scotland and England because the union was about high politics rather than the affairs of civil society and culture. Unlike in England, the universities developed in close relationship with Scottish agencies of the state during the 19th century, and these agencies also built up a system of non-university higher education colleges. In the 20th century, the universities (and later some of the colleges) sought to detach themselves from Scottish culture and politics, favouring instead a common British academic network. So the new constitutional settlement faces Scottish higher education institutions with an enforced allegiance to the Scottish nation that will sharply disrupt their 80-year interlude as outposts of the British polity.
What are the humanities for?
Authors: de Botton Alain
Published: July 2009

The popular acclaim for Alan Sokal's ‘Intellectual Impostures’ suggests a deep-seated suspicion about the value of much theoretical work in the humanities. But if the heroic age of scholarship is past, what are the humanities for? To teach us how to lead better lives?
Organizing science in Europe
Authors: Grande Edgar , Peschke Anke
Published: July 2009

In the course of European integration, many transnational institutions representing national universities, research organizations and industrial research have been established over the last decades. The purpose of this article is to give an empirical account of the role of transnational organizations in European science policy.
Understanding the ecology of plankton
Authors: Woods John
Published: July 2009

Plankton are microscopic organisms living in the sea. They are responsible for more than half of the biological production of our planet. They also influence global climate, fisheries and pollution. Understanding the ever-changing distribution of plankton in the ocean is one of the grand challenges of science. The scope of the problem has been well documented in the 20th century, and new research tools should greatly accelerate progress in the 21st century. A particularly promising tool is mathematical simulation of the ecosystem, in which the demographics of plankton populations are derived from the growth and behaviour of individual organisms, each responding to its immediate environment. These use new computer codes, based on the Lagrangian Ensemble method, which are at the leading edge of complexity simulation. When integrated on massively parallel computers they can simulate the individual histories of millions of plankters for several decades. These ‘virtual plankton ecosystems’ help us to understand the complex processes responsible for the ever-changing patterns of planktonic life in the ocean.
Putting science at the heart of Europe: the European Science Foundation's next 25 years
Authors: Banda Enric
Published: July 2009

In this paper I would like to draw on some of the European Science Foundation's past and present initiatives to illustrate how we might build on its strengths – and overcome its weaknesses – in order to capitalize on European scientific potential during one of the most important periods in Europe's recent history. In effect, I would like to set out my personal vision for the European Science Foundation (ESF). This is certainly a fitting time to be looking forward. We are not only on the brink of a new millennium, the ESF is also celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and should take stock of its past achievements and assess how these can be used to enhance European science over the next two and half decades. More crucially, Europe's social, political and economic landscape is undergoing one of its most radical upheavals, spearheaded by the euro and other facets of European union. These developments will inevitably have a major impact on how science is organized, funded and conducted. Like it or not, science is inextricably linked to Europe's socio-economic environment. The challenge is to develop a strategy, and the associated structures and resources, to place science at the heart of the ‘new Europe’.
Humanism and linguistic diversity
Authors: Spang-Hanssen Ebbe
Published: July 2009

Traditional humanism emphasized equal rights for all human beings, and consequently the similarity of human beings. Recently it has been pointed out that postmodernism, which can be considered as a modern humanism, focuses on the diversity of mankind. In this paper it is claimed that these two aspects – sameness and diversity of human beings – are both essential to humanism. The history of linguistics, which is closely correlated with the history of humanism, demonstrates that the focus has constantly shifted between uniformity (universality) and diversity.
The modernity of medieval law
Authors: van Caenegem Raoul
Published: July 2009

Medieval lawsuits from the highest courts of England and France show the concern of authorities for even minor issues involving ordinary people – a democratic and modern trait. In comparing the English Court of Common Pleas to the Parlement of Paris, it can be seen that classical Roman law made a great impact on France, while the English Court ignored Roman law and applied English customary law and acts of Parliament. The Parlement of Paris also had to apply local customs, but its judges had all studied Roman and no customary law at the university; however, for political reasons they were not allowed to refer openly to the Roman law in which they had been educated. The jury was a major medieval contribution to modern democratic thinking, as was the political idea that matters concerning the whole community ought to be decided by all its members. The American power-sharing system, between President and Congress, continues the late medieval balance between King and Parliament. English common law was one of the great creations of the Middle Ages and the only system of comparable importance is continental civil law (with Germanic and Roman roots). This paper considers the chances of the elaboration in the 21st century of a common European law combining elements from both traditions.
The sea and seeing
Authors: Wright Barbara
Published: July 2009

A shift in seeing took place in Western Europe, marked by the transition from the geometrical optics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the physiological optics of the nineteenth century. Within the same time-frame, the sea (like the mountains) came to be valued as an entity in itself, and not just as a source of challenge, danger or ecstasy. The coupling of these two phenomena makes for the tracking of parallel effects: the diminution of anthropocentricity in the change from monocular to binocular vision; the substitution of plurality of point of view for the recessional perspective of the Renaissance; and a revisitation of the interrelationships and metamorphoses characteristic of the Baroque in terms of new polyvalent or interdisciplinary approaches.
The Irish Sea and the Atlantic trade in the Viking Age
Authors: Wilson David M.
Published: July 2009

The Vikings initially ventured into the Irish Sea as raiders and took, from the monasteries and other rich centres, wealth in the form of goods and slaves. In the course of the tenth century, however, they became permanently established and founded and developed the first towns in Ireland, often under sufferance from the local population. From these towns they controlled the trade routes along the western coasts of Europe through the Irish Sea — routes that brought luxury goods to both the North and the South. The increasing economic power of the Irish towns was one of the factors that led to the English conquest of Ireland in 1170.
A political sociology of the Nordic countries
Authors: Allardt Erik
Published: July 2009

The Nordic countries of Europe have many common traits. They are small countries in Northern Europe, they have been Lutheran since the Reformation, and they had, for centuries, a strong landholding peasantry but a weak aristocracy. They developed a comprehensive welfare state after the Second World War, and they are more sceptical about European integration than people from other countries in Western Europe. Despite attempts to create a Nordic union and the existence of a Nordic Council, their joint Nordic orientation has been subordinated to the national interests of the individual Nordic countries. They are clear-cut nation states with a nationalism that is not fierce, but represents a kind of official, controlled and uniform national spirit. With respect to parliamentary politics and social policy the main features of the countries have been called the Nordic Model. The model still exists, but rests on shakier ground than before.
Helping plants get more nitrogen from the air
Authors: Cocking Edward C.
Published: July 2009

Plants cannot themselves obtain their nitrogen from the air but rely mainly on the supply of combined nitrogen in the form of ammonia, or nitrates, resulting from nitrogen fixation by free-living bacteria in the soil or bacteria living symbiotically in nodules on the roots of legumes. Increased crop yields in the twentieth century required this biological nitrogen fixation to be supplemented increasingly by the use of fixed nitrogen from chemical fertilizers. The development of the Haber–Bosch process for catalytically combining atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen from fossil fuels to produce ammonia enabled increased crop yields. However, energy and environmental concerns arising from the overuse of nitrogenous fertilizers have highlighted the need for plants to obtain more of their nitrogen from the air by biological nitrogen fixation. New systems are being developed for increased biological nitrogen fixation with cereals and other non-legumes by establishing nitrogen-fixing bacteria within their roots. This new inoculation technology is aimed at significantly reducing the use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers in world agriculture.
Towards the post-modern ocean
Authors: Vallega Adalberto
Published: July 2009

Approaching the 21st century, humankind faces a paradox: the ocean covers more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface and has a core role in providing living and non-living resources for the world's population, but it is much less understood than the terrestrial part of our planet.
Brain mechanisms underlying basic affective processes
Authors: Vincent Jean-Dider
Published: July 2009

According to the classical psycho-physiological theories, human and animal behaviour are dictated by inborn or acquired motivation. The sight of a serpent for example, is an inborn motivation for flight and fear in a dog, but the fear of a policeman, on the other hand, is an acquired motivation in humans. Acquired or derived motivations result from conditioning or associative procedures that come under the general heading of reflex theory. This does not take into account the notion of subjectivity, which subordinates the state to an act whose motive can always be traced back to the satisfaction of an inborn need of the species. But can we always talk about vital needs or acts that have been learnt when we see certain ways of behaving which cannot be explained or justified by any utility?
Cultural research and the role of academies. The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
Authors: Jonsson Inge
Published: July 2009

The article discusses various aspects of cultural research from the point of view of academies. More specifically it aims at outlining the history of The Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities in Stockholm, which was officially responsible for the cultural heritage of Sweden until the 1970s. Since then it has become an independent learned society for the humanities and social sciences, but it still takes a great interest in ancient monuments and the protection of culturally precious milieus.
How do welfare states change? Institutions and their impact on the politics of welfare state reform in Western Europe
Authors: Bonoli Giuliano , Palier Bruno
Published: July 2009

In the 1980s and 1990s West European welfare states were exposed to strong pressures to ‘renovate’, to retrench. However, the European social policy landscape today looks as varied as it did at any time during the 20th century. ‘New institutionalism’ seems particularly helpful to account for the divergent outcomes observed, and it explains the resistance of different structures to change through past commitments, the political weight of welfare constituencies and the inertia of institutional arrangements – in short, through ‘path dependency’. Welfare state institutions play a special role in framing the politics of social reform and can explain trajectories and forms of policy change. The institutional shape of the existing social policy landscape poses a significant constraint on the degree and the direction of change. This approach is applied to welfare state developments in the UK and France, comparing reforms of unemployment compensation, old-age pensions and health care. Both countries have developed welfare states, although with extremely different institutional features. Two institutional effects in particular emerge: schemes that mainly redistribute horizontally and protect the middle classes well are likely to be more resistant against cuts. Their support base is larger and more influential compared with schemes that are targeted on the poor or are so parsimonious as to be insignificant for most of the electorate. The contrast between the overall resistance of French social insurance against cuts and the withering away of its British counterpart is telling. In addition, the involvement of the social partners, and particularly of the labour movement in managing the schemes, seems to provide an obstacle for government sponsored retrenchment exercises.
Elephants on the move. Patterns of public pension reform in OECD countries
Authors: Hinrichs Karl
Published: July 2009

Among OECD countries there are two clusters of old-age security systems: (1) ‘Social insurance’ countries had, by the end of the 1960s, fashioned the core of old-age security as public, contributory, earnings-related and unfunded insurance schemes; (2) a diverse collection of countries that, after 1970, topped up their basic pension arrangements with funded occupational pension schemes with (almost) universal coverage. ‘Social insurance’ countries, on which this essay focuses, reveal at least six common trends in pension reform, all about improving the financial sustainability of public schemes. Although the repertoire of incremental adjustment strategies is quite limited, policy changes since the early 1980s have not led to a clear convergence among ‘social insurance’ countries (or across the two clusters). Their original diversity has been somewhat diminished, but it has for the most part merely taken a different form. Public pension reforms regularly harmed (future) beneficiaries. Nevertheless, most reforms were actually based on broad political consensus. The success of attempts to introduce retrenchment policies depends on prior negotiation with – and support obtained from – collective actors above and beyond a simple parliamentary majority. This peculiar prerequisite ensures success in the sense of a sustained implementation of the measures taken and of actual improvement in public trust in ‘reliable’ pension schemes.
Higher forms of nonsense
Authors: Rip Arie
Published: July 2009

Research councils are under pressure and some are responding pro-actively. This has implications for their functioning as ‘aggregation machines’ taking in proposals and churning out judgements and decisions. Five scenarios of possible futures for research councils in the world of strategic science are laid out, with examples
Introduction: Japan and Europe – some new perspectives
Authors: Hijiya-Kirschnereit Irmela
Published: July 2009

Japanese–European relations are a case of their own. They do not fit into the conventional model of intercontinental contacts marred by colonization and one-sided exploration. Today Japan disturbs the mind perhaps more than ever, because it appears so familiar while at the same time retaining certain peculiarities. Mutual perceptions have been ambivalent, but whether we speak of a ‘clash of civilizations’ or simply of effects of globalization, Europe's and Japan's mutual images as well as their roles are subject to change. This essay frames some new approaches presented in this focus under the headings of multilateralism, consumer's identities, and, entangled modernities'. It shows that transsocietal studies such as these can contribute to theory formation in their respective disciplines, and, on a more pragmatic level, it argues that mutual relations are no longer characterized by one-sided learning processes but by ‘fuzzy learning’ where both sides profit from each other's experiences.
ISAR imaging of helicopters using millimeter wave radars
Authors: Essen Helmut , Hägelen Manfred , Wahlen Alfred , Schulz Karsten , Jäger Klaus , Hebel Marcus
Published: July 2009

The capabilities of millimeter wave radars have been demonstrated for a long period of time for missile seeker applications and for automotive radars. The technological advantages of this type of radar can be adapted to security applications in air traffic management at short and medium range as well as on the ground. The application discussed in this paper focuses on inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging techniques for the derivation of high-resolution signatures of helicopters in the air and the determination of reference images using turntable measurements.
A comparison of the formation and evolution of magnetic flux ropes in solar coronal mass ejections and magnetotail plasmoids
Authors: Linton M. G. , Moldwin M. B.
Published: July 2009

Solar coronal mass ejections and their interplanetary counterparts often show evidence of a twisted flux rope structure that is nearly identical, though of vastly different spatial scale, to plasmoids observed in the Earth's magnetotail. This paper reviews the current understanding of flux rope formation, morphology, and evolution in coronal mass ejections and magnetotail plasmoids. It highlights the idea that flux rope formation is a common space physics phenomenon and that the physical mechanisms responsible for flux rope formation occur over a wide range of plasma conditions wherever current sheets exist.
Anisotropy of the Taylor scale and the correlation scale in plasma sheet and solar wind magnetic field fluctuations
Authors: Weygand James M. , Matthaeus W. H. , Dasso S. , Kivelson M. G. , Kistler L. M. , Mouikis C.
Published: July 2009

Magnetic field data from nine spacecraft in the magnetospheric plasma sheet and the solar wind are employed to determine the correlation scale and the magnetic Taylor microscale from simultaneous multiple‐point measurements for multiple intervals with a range of mean magnetic field directions. We have determined that in the solar wind the Taylor scale is independent of direction relative to the mean magnetic field, but the correlation scale along the mean magnetic field (2.7 × 106 ± 0.2 × 106 km) is longer than along the perpendicular direction (1.5 × 106 ± 0.1 × 106 km). Within the plasma sheet we found that the correlation scale varies from 16,400 ± 1000 km along the mean magnetic field direction to 9200 ± 600 km in the perpendicular direction. The Taylor scale is also longer parallel to the magnetic field (2900 ± 100 km) than perpendicular to it (1100 ± 100 km). In the solar wind the ratio of the parallel correlation scale to the perpendicular correlation scale is 2.62 ± 0.79; in the plasma sheet the ratio is 1.78 ± 0.16, which indicates that the turbulence in both regions is anisotropic. The correlation and Taylor scales may be used to estimate effective magnetic Reynolds numbers separately for each angular channel. Reynolds numbers were found to be approximately independent of the angle relative to the mean magnetic field. These results may be useful in magnetohydrodynamic modeling of the solar wind and the magnetosphere and can contribute to our understanding of solar and galactic cosmic ray diffusion in the heliosphere.
Seismic attenuation structure in central Mexico: Image of a focused high‐attenuation zone in the mantle wedge
Authors: Chen Ting , Clayton Robert W.
Published: July 2009

Velocity spectra from moderate‐sized earthquakes were used to investigate the P wave attenuation structure in central Mexico. In particular, we included regional events with magnitudes in the range of 4.5 to 6.1 recorded from 2005 to 2007 on the Middle American Subduction Experiment (MASE) array, which consists of 100 broadband sensors across central Mexico from Acapulco to Tempoal, near the Gulf of Mexico. By assuming a Brune‐type source, a frequency‐independentt* value was obtained for each seismogram in the frequency band 1 to 30 Hz. These measurements were then inverted for two‐dimensional spatial variations inQpin the cross section along the MASE array, perpendicular to the trench. The model has uniform 20 km vertical grid spacing down to a depth of 200 km and 50 km or 100 km horizontal grid spacing depending on ray coverage. The inversion results show low attenuation in the subducting slab and high attenuation in the mantle wedge and the crust below and to the north of the volcanic belt. The focused high‐attenuation zone (Qp< 200) in the mantle wedge lies away from the top of the slab, between depths of 80 km and 120 km beneath the volcanic belt, and is likely to be related to relatively high temperature, fluids, and partial melts produced in subduction process. The high‐attenuation region in the lower crust correlates with the low‐resistivity and low‐velocity region and could be caused by partial melts and fluids from dehydration and magmatic processes.
Joint effects of boundary currents and thermohaline intrusions on the warming of Atlantic water in the Canada Basin, 1993–2007
Authors: McLaughlin Fiona A. , Carmack Eddy C. , Williams William J. , Zimmermann Sarah , Shimada Koji , Itoh Motoyo
Published: July 2009

The 1990–1991 influx of Atlantic water, both anomalously warm and in greater volume than in the past, enveloped the Chukchi Borderland in the western Canada Basin by 2002 and spread across the southeastern Canada Basin by 2007. Warmer, younger (more ventilated), and less dense Fram Strait Branch waters have replaced colder, older, and denser waters, increasing the temperature of the Fram Strait Branch core from a 50‐year or more mean of ∼0.45°C to ∼0.7°C. Physical and geochemical data collected from 1993 to 2007 show that the two main transport mechanisms are the boundary current and thermohaline intrusions, established by large thermal gradients. The boundary current operates in a cyclonic direction whereas the thermohaline intrusions operate in an anticyclonic direction because of the influence of the Beaufort Gyre. This shows that the Beaufort Gyre's effect on ocean circulation extends into the Fram Strait Branch of the Atlantic layer. The boundary current, a fully pan‐Arctic structure, is much slower in the Canada Basin than in basins upstream, with an effective speed of ∼0.5 cm/s. The effective spreading rate of the thermohaline intrusions, relative to the core, is 0.2 cm/s. Thermohaline intrusions show signs of dissipation near the Northwind Ridge in 2007 suggesting that as temperature gradients between inflowing and resident waters decrease, they will disappear from the Canada Basin.
Modeling and simulation of pore‐scale multiphase fluid flow and reactive transport in fractured and porous media
Authors: Meakin Paul , Tartakovsky Alexandre M.
Published: July 2009

In the subsurface, fluids play a critical role by transporting dissolved minerals, colloids, and contaminants (sometimes over long distances); by mediating dissolution and precipitation processes; and by enabling chemical transformations in solution and at mineral surfaces. Although the complex geometries of fracture apertures, fracture networks, and pore spaces may make it difficult to accurately predict fluid flow in saturated (single‐phase) subsurface systems, well‐developed methods are available. The simulation of multiphase fluid flow in the subsurface is much more challenging because of the large density and/or viscosity ratios found in important applications (water/air in the vadose zone; water/oil, water/gas, gas/oil, and water/oil/gas in hydrocarbon reservoirs; water/air/nonaqueous phase liquids (nonaqueous phase liquids/dense nonaqueous phase liquids) in contaminated vadose zone systems; and gas/molten rock in volcanic systems, for example). In addition, the complex behavior of fluid‐fluid‐solid contact lines and their impact on dynamic contact angles must also be taken into account and coupled with the fluid flow. Here we review the methods that are currently being used to simulate pore‐scale multiphase fluid flow and reactive transport in fractured and porous media. After the introduction, the review begins with an overview of the fundamental physics of multiphase fluids flow followed by a more detailed discussion of the complex dynamic behavior of contact lines and contact angles, an important barrier to accurate pore‐scale modeling and simulation. The main part of the review focuses on five different approaches: pore network models, lattice gas and lattice Boltzmann methods, Monte Carlo methods, particle methods (molecular dynamics, dissipative particle dynamics, and smoothed particle hydrodynamics), and traditional grid‐based computational fluid dynamics coupled with interface tracking and a contact angle model. Finally, the review closes with a discussion of future trends and challenges.
Examination of direct cumulus contamination on MISR‐retrieved aerosol optical depth and angstrom coefficient over ocean
Authors: Zhao Guangyu , Di Girolamo Larry , Dey Sagnik , Jones Alexandra L. , Bull Michael
Published: July 2009

The effect of direct cumulus contamination on the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and angstrom exponent (AE) from the Multi‐angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) was examined using overlapped 15‐m resolution data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) over the tropical western Atlantic Ocean (RICO), the Gulf of Mexico (GOMX), and Indian Ocean (INDI). Overall, 12%, 6% and 11% of MISR 1.1‐km pixels for aerosol retrievals contain some clouds, but 97%, 100% and 89% of these MISR pixels have the clouds covering less than 5% of the MISR pixel area over RICO, GOMX and INDI, respectively. On average, cumulus‐contaminated pixels increase AOD at 558 nm by 0.02, 0.02 and 0.00 and decrease AE by 0.03, 0.11 and 0.04 for RICO, GOMX and INDI, respectively. Based on these findings, a MISR‐derived aerosol optical depth climatology over the tropical oceans is biased high by no more than 0.002 from direct cumulus contamination.
A Dynamic Panel Data Study of the German Demand for Tourism in South Tyrol
Authors: Brida Juan Gabriel , Risso Wiston Adrián
Published: July 2009

Germany is traditionally the most important source of tourism for South Tyrol. The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of the German demand for tourism in this Italian region. We introduce a dynamic panel data model for modelling short and long-term responses. We use annual data from 1987 to 2007 of the per capita GDP of Germany (measuring income), the number of German tourists in each of the 116 tourism destinations of South Tyrol (measuring the volume of tourism), the relative prices between Italy and Germany (measuring tourism price) and price of crude oil (as a proxy of travel costs). The main results of this study are: (1) the demand for tourism in the previous period has a positive and relevant effect on actual demand, reflecting loyalty of the German tourists; (2) the cost of travel and the relative prices have a negative and significant impact on tourism demand.
A theoretical examination of known and hypothetical clathrate hydrate materials
Authors: Tribello Gareth A. , Slater Ben
Published: July 2009

The recent synthesis of a new hydrogen binary hydrate with the sH structure has highlighted the potential storage capabilities of water clathrates [T. A. Strobel, C. A. Koh, and E. D. Sloan, J. Phys. Chem. B 112, 1885 (2008) and A. R. C. Duarte, A. Shariati, L. J. Rovetto, and C. J. Peters, J. Phys. Chem. B 112, 1888 (2008)]. In this work, the absorption of hydrogen and the promoters used in the experimental work are considered using a simplified model for the host-guest interaction, which allows one to understand the stabilizing effects of multiple help molecules. Two further hypothetical clathrates, which are isostructural with known zeolite structures, are also investigated. It is shown that the energy gained by absorbing adamantane into these two frameworks is far greater than that gained upon absorption of adamantane into the sH structure. Hence, a clathrate with the same topology as the DDR (Sigma 1) zeolite may be synthesizable with adamantane and hydrogen as guest molecules as, in the conditions explored here, this phase appears to be more stable than the sH structure.
Three-dimensional localization with nanometer accuracy using a detector-limited double-helix point spread function system
Authors: Pavani Sri Rama Prasanna , Greengard Adam , Piestun Rafael
Published: July 2009

Accurate estimation of the three-dimensional (3D) position of particles is critical in applications like biological imaging, atom/particle-trapping, and nanomanufacturing. While it is well-known that localization accuracy better than the Rayleigh resolution limit is possible, it was recently shown that, for photon-limited cases, 3D point spread functions (PSFs) can be shaped to increase accuracies over a 3D volume [Pavani and Piestun, Opt. Express 16, 22048 (2008)]. Here, we show that in the detector-limited regime, the gain in accuracy occurs in all three dimensions throughout the axial range of interest. The PSF is shaped as a double helix, resulting in a system with fundamentally better 3D localization accuracies than standard PSF systems, capable of achieving single-image subnanometer accuracies.