bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Activation of the PTEN/mTOR/STAT3 pathway in breast cancer stem-like cells is required for viability and maintenance
Authors: Zhou Jiangbing , Wulfkuhle Julia , Zhang Hao , Gu Peihua , Yang Yanqin , Deng Jianghong , Margolick Joseph B. , Liotta Lance A. , Petricoin Emanuel , Zhang Ying
Published: October 2007

Side-population (SP) cells within cancers and cell lines are rare cell populations known to enrich cancer stem-like cells. In this study, we characterized SP cells from the human breast cancer cell line MCF7 as a model for cancer stem-like cells. Compared with non-SP cells, MCF7 SP cells had higher colony-formation ability
in vitro
and greater tumorigenicity
in vivo
, suggesting that MCF7 SP cells enrich cancer stem-like cells. cDNA microarray analysis of the SP cells indicated higher expression of ATP-binding cassette transporters and genes involved in quiescence, which were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR and flow cytometry cell cycle analysis. To identify signal pathways important for cancer stem-like cells, we analyzed cDNA microarray data and identified nine pathways that were altered in the SP cells. To analyze the protein signaling networks, we used reverse-phase signaling pathway protein microarray technology and identified three signaling proteins that are significantly different between MCF7 SP and non-SP cells. Notably, signaling of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), signal transduction and activator of transcription (STAT3), and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was confirmed to be critical for MCF7 SP cell survival and proliferation by pathway specific inhibitors, selected gene knockdown, and
in vivo
tumorigenicity assay. The STAT3 pathway was found to be positively regulated by mTOR signaling, whereas PTEN served as a negative regulator of both STAT3 and mTOR signaling. This study suggests the existence of prosurvival signaling pathways critical for cancer stem-like cell maintenance, which could be selectively targeted for inhibiting cancer stem-like cells for improved treatment.
Tumor protein 53-induced nuclear protein 1 expression is repressed by miR-155, and its restoration inhibits pancreatic tumor development
Authors: Gironella Meritxell , Seux Mylène , Xie Min-Jue , Cano Carla , Tomasini Richard , Gommeaux Julien , Garcia Stephane , Nowak Jonathan , Yeung Man Lung , Jeang Kuan-Teh , Chaix Amandine , Fazli Ladan , Motoo Yoshiharu , Wang Qing , Rocchi Palma , Russo Antonio , Gleave Martin , Dagorn Jean-Charles , Iovanna Juan L. , Carrier Alice , Pébusque Marie-Josèphe , Dusetti Nelson J.
Published: October 2007

Pancreatic cancer is a disease with an extremely poor prognosis.
Tumor protein 53-induced nuclear protein 1
(
TP53INP1
) is a proapoptotic stress-induced p53 target gene. In this article, we show by immunohistochemical analysis that TP53INP1 expression is dramatically reduced in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and this decrease occurs early during pancreatic cancer development. TP53INP1 reexpression in the pancreatic cancer-derived cell line MiaPaCa2 strongly reduced its capacity to form s.c., i.p., and intrapancreatic tumors in
nude
mice. This anti-tumoral capacity is, at least in part, due to the induction of caspase 3-mediated apoptosis. In addition, TP53INP1
−/−
mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) transformed with a retrovirus expressing E1A/ras
V12
oncoproteins developed bigger tumors than TP53INP1
+/+
transformed MEFs or TP53INP1
−/−
transformed MEFs with restored TP53INP1 expression. Finally, TP53INP1 expression is repressed by the oncogenic micro RNA miR-155, which is overexpressed in PDAC cells. TP53INP1 is a previously unknown miR-155 target presenting anti-tumoral activity.
Stable isotope and DNA evidence for ritual sequences in Inca child sacrifice
Authors: Wilson Andrew S. , Taylor Timothy , Ceruti Maria Constanza , Chavez Jose Antonio , Reinhard Johan , Grimes Vaughan , Meier-Augenstein Wolfram , Cartmell Larry , Stern Ben , Richards Michael P. , Worobey Michael , Barnes Ian , Gilbert M. Thomas P.
Published: October 2007

Four recently discovered frozen child mummies from two of the highest peaks in the south central Andes now yield tantalizing evidence of the preparatory stages leading to Inca ritual killing as represented by the unique
capacocha
rite. Our interdisciplinary study examined hair from the mummies to obtain detailed genetic and diachronic isotopic information. This approach has allowed us to reconstruct aspects of individual identity and diet, make inferences concerning social background, and gain insight on the hitherto unknown processes by which victims were selected, elevated in social status, prepared for a high-altitude pilgrimage, and killed. Such direct information amplifies, yet also partly contrasts with, Spanish historical accounts.
Supermodeled sabercat, predatory behavior in
Smilodon fatalis
revealed by high-resolution 3D computer simulation
Authors: McHenry Colin R. , Wroe Stephen , Clausen Philip D. , Moreno Karen , Cunningham Eleanor
Published: October 2007

The American sabercat
Smilodon fatalis
is among the most charismatic of fossil carnivores. Despite broad agreement that its extraordinary anatomy reflects unique hunting techniques, after >150 years of study, many questions remain concerning its predatory behavior. Were the “sabers” used to take down large prey? Were prey killed with an eviscerating bite to the abdomen? Was its bite powerful or weak compared with that of modern big cats? Here we quantitatively assess the sabercat's biomechanical performance using the most detailed computer reconstructions yet developed for the vertebrate skull. Our results demonstrate that bite force driven by jaw muscles was relatively weak in
S. fatalis
, one-third that of a lion (
Panthera leo
) of comparable size, and its skull was poorly optimized to resist the extrinsic loadings generated by struggling prey. Its skull is better optimized for bites on restrained prey where the bite is augmented by force from the cervical musculature. We conclude that prey were brought to ground and restrained before a killing bite, driven in large part by powerful cervical musculature. Because large prey is easier to restrain if its head is secured, the killing bite was most likely directed to the neck. We suggest that the more powerful jaw muscles of
P. leo
may be required for extended, asphyxiating bites and that the relatively low bite forces in
S. fatalis
might reflect its ability to kill large prey more quickly, avoiding the need for prolonged bites.
Plant nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) B subunits confer drought tolerance and lead to improved corn yields on water-limited acres
Authors: Nelson Donald E. , Repetti Peter P. , Adams Tom R. , Creelman Robert A. , Wu Jingrui , Warner David C. , Anstrom Don C. , Bensen Robert J. , Castiglioni Paolo P. , Donnarummo Meghan G. , Hinchey Brendan S. , Kumimoto Roderick W. , Maszle Don R. , Canales Roger D. , Krolikowski Katherine A. , Dotson Stanton B. , Gutterson Neal , Ratcliffe Oliver J. , Heard Jacqueline E.
Published: October 2007

Commercially improved crop performance under drought conditions has been challenging because of the complexity of the trait and the multitude of factors that influence yield. Here we report the results of a functional genomics approach that identified a transcription factor from the nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) family,
AtNF-YB1
, which acts through a previously undescribed mechanism to confer improved performance in
Arabidopsis
under drought conditions. An orthologous maize transcription factor, ZmNF-YB2, is shown to have an equivalent activity. Under water-limited conditions, transgenic maize plants with increased ZmNF-YB2 expression show tolerance to drought based on the responses of a number of stress-related parameters, including chlorophyll content, stomatal conductance, leaf temperature, reduced wilting, and maintenance of photosynthesis. These stress adaptations contribute to a grain yield advantage to maize under water-limited environments. The application of this technology has the potential to significantly impact maize production systems that experience drought.
Crystal structure of the
Helicobacter pylori
vacuolating toxin p55 domain
Authors: Gangwer Kelly A. , Mushrush Darren J. , Stauff Devin L. , Spiller Ben , McClain Mark S. , Cover Timothy L. , Lacy D. Borden
Published: October 2007

Helicobacter pylori
VacA, a pore-forming toxin secreted by an autotransporter pathway, causes multiple alterations in human cells, contributes to the pathogenesis of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer, and is a candidate antigen for inclusion in an
H. pylori
vaccine. Here, we present a 2.4-Å crystal structure of the VacA p55 domain, which has an important role in mediating VacA binding to host cells. The structure is predominantly a right-handed parallel β-helix, a feature that is characteristic of autotransporter passenger domains but unique among known bacterial protein toxins. Notable features of VacA p55 include disruptions in β-sheet contacts that result in five β-helix subdomains and a C-terminal domain that contains a disulfide bond. Analysis of VacA protein sequences from unrelated
H. pylori
strains, including m1 and m2 forms of VacA, allows us to identify structural features of the VacA surface that may be important for interactions with host receptors. Docking of the p55 structure into a 19-Å cryo-EM map of a VacA dodecamer allows us to propose a model for how VacA monomers assemble into oligomeric structures capable of membrane channel formation.
A mechanobiochemical mechanism for monooriented chromosome oscillation in mitosis
Authors: Liu Jian , Desai Arshad , Onuchic José N. , Hwa Terence
Published: October 2007

During mitosis, the condensed chromosomes undergo a series of spectacular oscillations after they are captured in an end-on manner by kinetochore microtubules (KMT) emanating from the spindle poles. Such oscillations are commonly attributed to tug-of-war-like mechanisms, where the mechanical force imbalance alone drives the chromosome movement. However, a large portion of the force imbalance upon the chromosome is absorbed by the kinetochore and may not drive chromosome movement directly. Mounting evidence suggests that such resistance by the kinetochores regulates the chemical reactions of KMT plus-end growth and shrinkage, which have been shown as the determinant of the chromosome antipoleward (AP) and poleward movements. Here we incorporate this important regulatory feature, propose a mechanobiochemical feedback mechanism, and apply it to the monooriented chromosome oscillation, the early stage of the series of observed chromosome oscillations. In this model, the mechanical movement of the chromosome and the local biochemical reactions at the attached kinetochore region form a feedback loop that drives the oscillation. The force imbalance exerted on the chromosomes provides a bias (via mechanically sensitive proteins) on the local biochemical reactions controlling the KMT plus-end dynamics, and the movement of the chromosome in turn changes the forces exerted on it through the experimentally supported gradient in AP force. The proposed feedback mechanism can generate oscillatory behavior that depends on the topology of the feedback loop but is largely independent of the detailed molecular mechanism. We suggest potential molecular players, whose perturbation may allow direct experimental tests of the model.
Deletion mutations in N-terminal α1 helix render heat labile enterotoxin B subunit susceptible to degradation
Authors: Alone Pankaj V. , Malik Gunjan , Krishnan Anuja , Garg Lalit C.
Published: October 2007

Heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) from enterotoxigenic
Escherichia coli
is a heterohexameric protein consisting of an enzymatically active A subunit, LTA, and a carrier pentameric B subunit, LTB. It is clear from the crystal structure of LTB that the N-terminal α1 helix lies outside the core structure. However, the function of the N-terminal α1 helix of LTB is unknown. The present work was carried out to investigate the effect of site-directed mutagenesis of the α1 helix on LTB synthesis. Six amino acids (PQSITE) located at positions 2–7 from the N terminus, including 4 aa from the α1 helix, were deleted by site-directed mutagenesis. The deletion resulted in complete inhibition of LTB expression in
E. coli
when expressed along with its signal sequence. A single amino acid deletion within the α1 helix also resulted in loss of expression. However, a single amino acid deletion outside the α1 helix did not affect LTB synthesis. Mutant proteins, whose synthesis was not detected
in vivo
, could be successfully translated
in vitro
by using the coupled transcription–translation system. Immunoblot analysis, Northern blot analysis, and
in vitro
transcription–translation data collectively indicate that the lack of synthesis of the mutant proteins is caused by the immediate degradation of the expressed product by cellular proteases rather than by faulty translation of mutant LTB mRNA. Coexpression of the LTA could not rescue the degradation of LTB mutants.
Classroom code-switching in post-colonial contexts
Authors: Ferguson Gibson
Published: October 2007

Code-Switching in the classroom across a range of curricular subjects is a widespread phenomenon in multilingual, language contact settings in Africa and, indeed, world-wide; yet it is not infrequently regarded unfavourably by educational policy-makers. This paper reviews the literature on classroom functions of code-switching in post-colonial contexts, commenting on the merits and limitations of recent research. It also examines some of the conceptions of language underlying official and lay attitudes. Finally, as befits a paper examining classroom codeþswitching from the somewhat unusual perspective of language planning in education, it evaluates a number of policy proposals addressing the issue of how code-switching might more effectively be exploited as a communicative and pedagogic resource in instruction. The paper overall is constructed so as to inform the attitudes, practices and policies of policy-makers, teacher educators and teachers.
Popular Malagasy music and the construction of cultural identities
Authors: Rasolofondraosolo Zafimahaleo , Meinhof Ulrike H.
Published: October 2007

This paper explores the construction of cultural identities through contemporary music from Madagascar, in particular the songs by Dama — singer-song-writer of the eponymous group of musicians- the Mahaleo. Specific focus is on the role that the discourses of and about popular Malagasy music play for the identity constructions of Malagasy people in Madagascar and abroad. Discussions about contemporary African music on the media and in the cultural studies literature, and the record industry’s own appropriation and commercialization of such music as generic ‘world music — tend to neglect the lyrics — and thus the often radical social critique — contained in these songs. Since much of African music is sung in languages not normally known to ‘Western’ audiences, their appreciation hinges on the vibrancy of rhythm and sound, to the exclusion of content. Yet to ‘home’ and ‘diapsoric’ audiences, the texts are of huge significance. Our paper discusses the significance of language choice for popular music in Madagascar in the political movement of 1972 and its aftermath. We will also analyse in detail the lyrics of some typical songs from Mahaleo’s repertoire written by Dama. These will exemplify some of the ways in which the group attempts to encapsulate aspects of Malagasy every-day life, thus providing a cohesive link not only between several generations of Malagasies in Madagascar itself, but even more pronouncedly for those Malagasies who have left Madagascar and settled overseas. Finally, we will show the ways in which audiences create and perform ‘being Malagasy’ through the medium of their popular music, demonstrating the extent to which the project of ‘Mahaleo’ is being reflexively and consciously understood and taken up by their listeners.
Relations between segmental and prosodic structure in first language acquisition
Authors: Rose Yvan
Published: October 2007

In this paper, I discuss a number of relations that take place between melodic content and higher prosodic structure in first language phonological development. I explore acquisition patterns found in data on the acquisition of Québec French. Starting with the observation that prosodic structure and, more specifically, stressed syllables, play a central role in phonological acquisition, I hypothesize that the inter-relations between prosodic and segmental structure posited by formal models of phonological organisation should be witnessed within and across developmental stages. I support this hypothesis through two findings from the French data. First, complex onsets emerge in stressed syllables before unstressed ones. Second, different types of consonants (placeless versus place-specified) emerge in word-final position at different stages. From these observations, I argue that the phenomena observed in these data are best captured in an analysis based on constituent structure and relationships between feature specification and prosodic constituency, which are governed by universal markedness.
The Pragmatics of Punctuation and Its Problematic Nature in Translation
Authors: Shiyab Said
Published: October 2007

This article attempts to describe some of the pragmatic and semantic functions of two important punctuation marks. These are the semicolon (;) and the colon (:). The reason for this description is that no studies have provided a detailed description of the pragmatic and semantic functions of these marks. These marks are mostly used in Arabic for intonational or decorative purposes.

It was found that the system of punctuation marks in Arabic is inadequate as it does not specify rules for using them. However, in this study, it was found that the punctuation marks have linguistic implications that are not recognized by linguists nor by translators. The implications discussed here are the emphatic, additive, contrastive, and substantiative functions.This article attempts to describe some of the pragmatic and semantic functions of two important punctuation marks. These are the semicolon (;) and the colon (:). The reason for this description is that no studies have provided a detailed description of the pragmatic and semantic functions of these marks. These marks are mostly used in Arabic for intonational or decorative purposes.

It was found that the system of punctuation marks in Arabic is inadequate as it does not specify rules for using them. However, in this study, it was found that the punctuation marks have linguistic implications that are not recognized by linguists nor by translators. The implications discussed here are the emphatic, additive, contrastive, and substantiative functions.
The primal scream of Glückl and the Frauenbibel
Authors: Waldinger Albert
Published: October 2007

This article analyzes the “cry from the heart” of Bertha Pappenheim through her German version of the Yiddish Memoirs of Glückl von Hamel and the renowned “female Bible” (Tsenerene). Involved here is the placing of this output in the framework of her private life — a somewhat hysterical one, winning her the name of “Anna O” in psychoanalytic literature — and in the context of her feminism and social activism (among other things, she was the head of a Jewish orphanage in Germany and an investigator of Jewish cultural values in Eastern Europe). Her work shows how a tradition of biblical commentary can inspire both vernacular creativity and sacred literalism — inventiveness in the sense of a creation of a new form of Yiddish called Taytshsprakh (“language of commentary”) and “interlineal literalism” in Walter Benjamin’s sense. Most particularly, Pappenheim’s work as translator brings out the proud nature of a Jewish response to Hitler and helps to define the field of Jewish translation.
(Official) Sworn Translation and Its Functions
Authors: Mayoral Roberto
Published: October 2007

In this study, we wish to examine official translation (termed sworn translation in Spain) from the point of view of the function and the communicative intent of documents which are the subject of this type of translation. The theoretical basis for an unusual approach to official translation is discussed;its aim is to render communication more effective. The theoretical foundations of this study lie in the functional theory of translation as formulated by Christiane Nord as well as a number of concepts from pragmatics deemed compatible with the above model. Judicial and administrative practices are also drawn upon in the discussion.

Considering the process of official translation as a sequence of speech acts, as outlined by Alesandro Ferrara, this study describes the various functions within the sequence which are performed by the examples of documents examined (a British birth certificate, a U.S. birth certificate and an academic transcript from the U.S.).

In applying the above approach the components of the document are analysed in relation to the addressee. Official translation fulfils a function and adapts itself to a number of conditions all different from those of the original text. The end result is that a considerable part of the information contained in the original document goes unnoticed in the translated document and even makes its understanding difficult, but the application of a strategy of omission of those elements runs counter to the perspective of the addressee (and quite often also that of the customer) and may affect its acceptability and validity.
Lucretius
Authors: Dangel Jacqueline
Published: October 2007

Lucretius wanted his poetry to convey the scientific truths of Epicurean doctrine. In addition, he thought that one single
generative and organic principle unites atomistic physics and the combinatory production of meaning. Thanks to the interplay
between its “outer metric” (the distribution of dactylic/spondaic feet and caesuras) and its “inner metric” (the collocation
of metrical word-types), the Latin hexameter allowed him to create intricate networks of similarities and differences, aimed
at expressing the central tenets of the Epicurean system in such a way that they acquire the “evidence” of sensory
impressions. As shown by the detailed analysis of two excerpts (II, 308-332; I, 1-20), systematic choices operating at the
level of both “outer” and “inner” metrics provide a mimetic representation of the very essence of Epicurean reality, whose
constant change and movement produce order and complexity based on the functional properties of its pro-forms.
The decasyllable in Portugal
Authors: Spaggiari Barbara
Published: October 2007

We propose a new classification of the Portuguese decasyllable into periods, as well as an overview of the specific features
which have, over the centuries, marked the variety of this verse form. We thus distinguish between: the decassílabo
trovadoresco (Middle Ages); the decassílabo quatrocentista (15th century); the
decassílabo clássico (16th century); the decassílabo romântico (19th century); the
decassílabo decadente e simbolista (late 19th and early 20th century). Whether in medieval or modern
poetry, the Portuguese decasyllable exhibits an extreme variety of forms, rhythms and scansion patterns, all equally possible
and codified in the poetic idiom; so that the only constant distinctive feature of the verse appears to be the compulsory
accent on the 10th syllable. Moreover, the massive recourse to hiatus and dieresis, as well as to synaloepha and syneresis,
always allows the Portuguese poets to attain the required number of syllables.
Quotation in Context
Authors: Geurts Bart , Maier Emar
Published: October 2007

It appears that in mixed quotations like the following, the quoted expression is used and mentioned at the same
time:

George says Tony is his ‘bestest friend’.

Most theories seek to account for this observation by assuming
that mixed quotations operate at two levels of content at once. In contradistinction to such two-dimensional theories, we
propose that quotation involves just a single level of content. Quotation always produces a change in meaning of the quoted
expression, and if the quotation is mixed the shift is, to a first approximation at least, from α to ‘what x calls ‘α’’, where
x is a variable whose value is determined by the context. We argue that quotation is generally context dependent in various
ways, and that some of these ways are presuppositional in nature; we present a detailed analysis of the presuppositions in
question.
Remarks on Impure Quotation
Authors: Gómez-Torrente Mario
Published: October 2007

Quotation marks are ambiguous, although the conventional rules that govern their different uses are similar in that they contain
quantifications over quotable expressions. Pure uses are governed by a simple rule: by enclosing any expression within
quotation marks one gets a singular term, the quotation, that stands for the enclosed expression. Impure uses are far less
simple. In a series of uses the quotation marks conventionally indicate that (part of) the enclosed expression is a
contextually appropriate version of expressions uttered by some relevant agent. When the quotation marks have this meaning, it
is tempting to think of them as contributing that indication to the truth-conditional content of the utterance. I adopt a
cautious attitude towards this hypothesis, for the evidence in its favor is inconclusive. In other uses the quotation marks
conventionally indicate that the enclosed expression should be used not “plainly” but in some broadly speaking “distanced”
way, or that it is being so used by the utterer, and typically context makes clear the exact nature of the “distance” at
stake. In these cases the quotation marks do not even appear to contribute that indication to the truth-conditional content of
the utterance.
‘Subliminable’ Messages, Scare Quotes, and the Use Hypothesis
Authors: Predelli Stefano
Published: October 2007

According to the Use Hypothesis, examples such as

(1) life is ‘the farce which everybody has to perform’

convey
(among other things) a message to the effect that life is the farce which everybody has to perform, that is,
information-content obtained from the customary contributions provided by the expressions within quotes. Apparently
problematic from the point of view of the Use Hypothesis are cases such as

(2) these are ‘subliminable’
ads

because ‘subliminable’ seemingly fails to contribute anything to the content in question. My essay defends the Use
Hypothesis by suggesting how it can profitably be applied to cases such as (2).
Quotational Constructions
Authors: Saka Paul
Published: October 2007

The utterance of any expression x ostends or makes manifest the customary referent of x,
x itself, and related matter. If x appears in quotation marks then the presumed
intention behind the utterance is to pick out something other than the customary referent (either instead of it or in addition
to it). The consequences of these ideas, taken from my 1998 work, are here drawn out in application to a variety of
quotations: metalinguistic citation, reported speech, scare-quoting, echo-quoting, loan words, and titles.
On ‘Syntactic’ versus ‘Semantic’ Telicity
Authors: Thomas Emma
Published: October 2007

This paper argues that the distribution of the prepositions in and on suggests that they are unable to express direction and can only indicate the goal in certain specific contexts, often those in which the direction is expressed by the verb. This analysis of in and on is in direct contradiction to previous analyses of PP that have assumed that these prepositions can be both locative and directional. The significance of the distribution of in and on for analyses of the syntax of PP is discussed. Distributional facts suggest that while into and onto must be regarded as prepositions of movement and PP as an independent domain of telicity, in and on are not themselves prepositions of movement but rather can only have a goal interpretation in certain specific circumstances. An alternative account of PP is put forward whereby in and on are the surface manifestations of a syntactically atelic PP and, in those contexts where they are able to indicate the goal, this must be due to factors external to PP, probably to particular combinations of semantic features at the interpretive interface or in some cases to pragmatic or contextual factors.
Polysemy in Basque Locational Cases
Authors: Ibarretxe-Antuñano Iraide
Published: October 2007

Basque, a language spoken on both sides of the western Pyrenees, has rich lexical and grammatical resources for expressing space. It has five different locational cases and over thirty locational postpositions, mostly spatial nouns which can take any of the locational casesuffixes. The five locational cases of Basque are locative -n, ablative -ti(k), allative -ra(t), terminative allative -raino, and directional allative -rantz. Most accounts of locational cases are good sources for descriptive as well as etymological information. However, when it comes to explaining and understanding conceptualizations of space and motion in Basque, these studies do not offer any insights. They usually provide a list of different grammatical and semantic usages, but no explanation for their motivation, their internal structure and organization, or their linguistic realization. These three issues will be the main focus of this paper. Taking Cognitive Linguistics as my theoretical framework, I will argue that the different polysemous senses, spatial and non-spatial, of Basque locational cases can be understood as complex lexical networks organized around central spatial prototypical meanings. These prototypical meanings are structured by means of image schemas and their role bindings. The other senses of locational cases are motivated semantic extensions deriving from the prototypical spatial senses and linked to them by means of compositional polysemy and cognitive mechanisms such as metaphor.
Bemerkungen zu Substanz und Wissen Gottes in Boethius Philosophiae consolatio
Authors: Bächli Andreas
Published: October 2007

Boethius’ attempt to clarify the notion of divine providence in the Philosophiae consolatiois based on the conception of divine substance as ›eternity‹. Concerning his distinction between ›providence‹ and ›fate‹, this essay reconsiders and modi;es the view of some modern readers, according to which Boethius’s account entirely depends on Proclus. The fact that Boethius associates the notion of the One or the supreme Good with the notion of eternity suggests a rather free use of Proclus’s ideas. Although the solution of the problem of the ›necessity‹ of future contingent events he proposes is not new, what he has to say on divine ›comprehension‹ does not seem to consist merely in a presentation of views of his Neopla­tonic predecessors.
La storia della filosofia medievale dei secoli XIII e XIV
Authors: Federici Vescovini Graziella
Published: October 2007

An overview of current medieval philosophical and scientific studies would seem justified at the beginning of the 21st century. While no part of the history of philosophy has been so much despised as the Middle Ages (this period having been called until the beginning of the 20th century the ›dark ages‹), numerous internationally signi;cant studies on this topic have recently been published. Essays and monographs, critical editions, anthologies and re­views have addressed many facets of medieval thought, particularly the medieval institu­tional context and the intellectual life of the Middle Ages along with the history of medie­val philosophy and science. This essay looks at studies of different philosophical tendencies from the end of the 13th century to the 15th century, not restricting itself to medieval Aristo­telianism.
The Challenges for the Next Decade
Authors: Russo Margherita , Allari Giorgio , Bertini Silvano , Bonaretti Paolo , De Leo Elio , Fiorani Giuseppe , Rinaldini Gianni
Published: October 2007

With regard to the exogenous changes and the endogenous impasses that Emilia-Romagna is now facing, this paper presents what appear to be the main issues in the present transformation era of one of the richest regions in Europe. In particular, we outline the dynamics of changes at regional level with regard to both the changes in the interrelationships among the major actors, and the emergence of new phenomena, such as the demographic trends. The main regional policy measures to foster local development are sketched by focusing on industrial policies, transport infrastructure plans and policy measures on learning processes, as they emerge in the changes undertaken at regional level in technical and vocational education.
Organizational Rehabilitation through Rehabilitating People
Authors: Ljungberg van Beinum Ingrid
Published: October 2007

This paper presents a description of and reflections about an action research process in a local authority. The focus of the project is on the introduction of a new approach to the rehabilitation of staff. The new approach requires collaboration between departments, which is a great stumbling block in the bureaucratic structure and culture of the organization. The project describes and discusses how, through a gradual joint focusing on the rehabilitation of individuals, the departments concerned became aware of the fact that they were also engaged in a process of rehabilitating the organization. Various aspects of the importance of the relationship between the researcher and the organization are brought to the fore.
Psychology
Authors: van der Vlist René
Published: October 2007

I present here my views on psychology as a science. The article is the result of an ongoing discussion between ‘academic’ and ‘professional’ psychology in The Netherlands. Many proponents of ‘academic’ psychology are in favor of a psychology as if it is one of the disciplines of the natural sciences. Other psychologists, mostly those found in the professional field, hold the view that psychology is one of the social sciences and should not renounce such human capabilities as empathy, introspection, and dialogue. Without these we would not be able to understand others and eventually help them. This article is a plea for a ‘social’ psychology rather than a ‘natural scientific’ psychology. A social psychology that can play a role in action research.
The Competitive Advantage of Development Organizations
Authors: Pålshaugen Øyvind
Published: October 2007

Departing from the discussion whether there is a tendency — or a coercive force — towards convergence within the working life of the capitalist countries, forcing the enterprises to adopt similar structures and procedures across national boundaries, this article presents a brief discussion of the nature of some of the aspects of this assumed coercive force, namely the conditions of competition with which each enterprise has to cope. It is shown that analysts of capitalism with such different views as Karl Marx and Michael Porter agree that any enterprise has to be able to meet the actual productivity requirement within its own branch of industry at any point in time, if it is to survive in the market. However, it does not follow from this that there is only one way, or just a few, to cope with these requirements. Thus, starting with a simple model showing the broad scope of both the internal and the external general conditions of competition of any enterprise, we argue in favor of the importance of making all employees participate in well-organized work with a broad scope of improvement or development tasks, by means of a development organization. The thesis is that locally created development organizations within enterprises will not necessarily increase the uniformity of future developments: local variety may well be increased.
Education at the Crossroads
Authors: Janik Allan
Published: October 2007

Drastic changes in professional education have led to a need to emphasize that education must be a matter of life-long learning. About this there can be no doubt: the question is how should we conceive life-long learning. I argue on the basis of recent research in Sweden that professional knowledge is in its most crucial dimension what Michael Polanyi called ‘tacit knowledge’ and as a result that the humanities are indispensable to any concept of continuing education worth taking seriously.
The Relevance and Perversity of Psychodynamic Interventions in Consulting and Action Research
Authors: Vansina Leopold
Published: October 2007

An attempt is made to clarify the nature and relevance of the psychodynamic perspective for the work of action researchers and organization consultants. Since this perspective is grounded in psychoanalytic theory and clinical psychology, some important distinctions need to be made between the various work-domains of the consultant/action researcher and the classic individual psychoanalytic session. The author argues that without explicit reference to observable data, interventions may in fact pervert rather than facilitate learning and development. This argument is illustrated by vignettes grouped together under: (a) questionable interventions in group-relations conferences, (b) self-reflections and interpretations as a cult, and (c) the individual in interaction with the group.
Wittgenstein and his Philosophy of Beginnings and Beginnings and Beginnings
Authors: Shotter John
Published: October 2007

Traditionally, compared with Wittgenstein, philosophers have begun their investigation too late in the day. They have thought of people as being already self-conscious, self-contained individuals, acting in a willful and intellectual manner. Indeed, they have interpreted Wittgenstein’s latter philosophy, and his claim that the meaning of a word is its use in the language, in this way: as if he were concerned with language only as a tool, or as move in a language-game, with words said willfully and intellectually. In this view, words have meaning only if they are systematically connected with states of affairs and/or states of mind. There is, however, another side to Wittgenstein: a concern with the beginnings of language-games in spontaneous bodily reactions, and with such reactions as being the prototypes for new ways of thinking rather than as the results of ones already in existence. Here, meaning is understood in terms of one’s direct and immediate responsiveness to one’s surroundings. This paper explores this side of Wittgenstein’s thought, and relates it to practical methods for beginning new practices, by noticing the presence within our old practices of such, usually unnoticed spontaneous bodily reactions.
Action research as theoretical practices
Authors: Styhre Alexander , Kohn Kamilla , Sundgren Mats
Published: October 2007

The notion of theory is often discussed with great anxiety among organization and management theorists. Theory is often seen as being in opposition to practice which implies that theory may be outside of practical use. Against this view, this paper argues that what we call theoretical practices are key components of action research activities in organizations. Theoretical practices allow a contextual analysis of “thick” organizational practices and also allows an analysis of the multiple language games being used in organizations. Thus, theoretical practices should be examined as an important activity in insider/outsider action research activities.
Action research
Authors: Greenwood Davydd J.
Published: October 2007

This article examines how and why the academically-based social sciences, both pure and applied, have lost their relevance to practical human affairs (praxis) and links this discussion to the reasons why action research is a marginal activity in the academic and policy worlds. It also contains a harsh critique of action research practice focused on action researchers’ combined sense of moral superiority over conventional researchers and general complacency about fundamental issues of theory, method, and validity. The central argument is that “doing good” is not the same as “doing good social research” and that we action researchers need to hold ourselves accountable to higher standards, not only to compete with conventional social research but for the benefit of the non-academic stakeholders in action research projects.
Discourse democracy at work
Authors: Pålshaugen Øyvind
Published: October 2007

This article presents an empirically based argument for what I have labeled ‘discourse democracy at work’. The idea of discourse democracy at work is launched to supplement the various representative models of democracy we find in European working life. Starting with a brief elaboration of the concept of public sphere, the article presents a number of reasons why all parties in working life can benefit from applying some kind of internal public spheres within private enterprises. The experiences gained over 20 years with an agreement between the labor market parties in Norway, on enterprise development based on broad participation from the employees, forms the basis for a more detailed presentation of how discourse democracy at work may be put into practice. The concluding section presents some principal arguments as to why a strategy for discourse democracy is particularly apt today — in a working life characterized by trends like increasing knowledge industries, individualism on the personal level and globalization on the societal level.
The centrecephalon and thalamocortical integration
Authors: Watt Douglas F.
Published: October 2007

I have argued in other work that emotion, attentional functions, and executive functions are three interpenetrant global state variables, essentially differential slices of the consciousness pie. This paper will outline the columnar architecture and connectivities of the PAG (periaqueductal gray), its role in organizing prototype states of emotion, and the re-entry of PAG with the extended reticular thalamic activating system (“ERTAS”). At the end we will outline some potential implications of these connectivities for possible functional correlates of PAG networks that are just starting to be mapped. Overall, we will look at many lines of evidence that PAG should be conceptualized as a peri-reticular structure that has a foundational role in emotion, in generating the meaningful organization of behavior by the brain through prototype emotional states, and in allowing the various emotional systems to globally influence and tune both the forebrain and brainstem. Finally, we address implications of these concepts for what is currently understood about consciousness, underlining the need for somewhat more humility within consciousness studies about our current level of understanding of consciousness in the brain, combined with a deeper appreciation of the intrinsic connections between emotion and consciousness. One hopes that more concerted empirical interest in structures underneath the thalamus, combined with a deeper appreciation for the fundamental role that organismic and social value must have in bootstrapping awareness in the developing brain, would begin more widely to influence the fundamental lines of neuroscientific research in both emotion studies and consciousness studies.
Tymieniecka’s phenomenology of life
Authors: Backhaus Gary
Published: October 2007

Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka expands the phenomenological study of meanings (sense-bestowal) into an onto-genetic inquiry by grounding it in a phenomenology of life, including the emotional dimension. This phenomenology of life is informed by the empirical sciences and its doctrines parallel the new scientific paradigm of open dynamic systems. Embedded in the dynamics of the real individuation of life forms, human consciousness emerges at a unique station in the evolutionary process. Tymieniecka treats the constitution of sense as a function of life, and thus the transcendental constitutive function of the cognitive, objectifying intentionality of consciousness, the purview of classical phenomenology, is viewed as a project that is limited in its scope. According to the phenomenology of life, meaning-genesis is exhibited throughout the various stages of structurization in the evolution of life. This paper highlights the transformative function of the “Imaginatio Creatrix,” which is the dynamic process at the human station of evolution that accounts for humanity’s inventive capacities necessary for the construction of a human world. The Imaginatio Creatrix transforms the more primitive stirrings of the human “soul” into subliminal passions of human existential significance. The enactive theory of the mind corroborates Tymieniecka’s rejection of Husserl’s doctrine of passive synthesis. However, Tymieniecka’s study of the creative function offers a key for further advancement in enactive theory. Three sense-bestowing functions of the Imaginatio Creatrix account for the human expansion of life: the Aesthetic/Poetic sense, the Objectifying Sense, and the Moral Sense. The Moral Sense, for Tymieniecka, is not the product of reasoning powers, but rather the fruit of subliminal passions that acquire their moral aspect through trans-actions guided by the “benevolent sentiment.”
Consciousness, affect and objectifying in Cassirer’s conception of symbolizing
Authors: Wortsman Deluty Evelyn
Published: October 2007

An examination of Cassirer’s conception of symbolizing, which is born in his critique of Kant, will show that objectifying human experience without external absolutes is grounded in affect, not cognition. When there is no external absolute to guide objectifying, then the roots of objectifying begin with how we are affected by experience and led to reflect. Affect formulates how we become conscious of what there is and express this consciousness so as to objectify it. Affect thus has an indirect influence on consciousness and objectifying. Cassirer expands the scope of the free play of the imagination, which Kant restricted to aesthetic judgments, to account for how order arises through any modality when a rule is not given. He anchors this generative source in human expression itself, and thereby prevents objectifying from sinking into relativism. Affect is thus shown to play a regulative role in consciousness when we objectify human experience without external absolutes.
Evolution of communication with a spatialized genetic algorithm
Authors: Grim Patrick , Kokalis Trina , Tafti Ali , Kilb Nicholas
Published: October 2007

We extend previous work by modeling evolution of communication using a spatialized genetic algorithm which recombines strategies purely locally. Here cellular automata are used as a spatialized environment in which individuals gain points by feeding from drifting food sources and are 'harmed' if they fail to hide from migrating predators. Our individuals are capable of making one of two arbitrary sounds, heard only locally by their immediate neighbors. They can respond to sounds from their neighbors by opening their mouths or by hiding. By opening their mouths in the presence of food they maximize gains; by hiding when a predator is present they minimize losses. We consider the result a 'natural' template for benefits from communication; unlike a range of other studies, it is here only the recipient of communicated information that immediately benefits.
A community of'perfect communicators' could be expected to make a particular sound when successfully feeding, responding to that same sound from their neighbors by opening their mouths. They could be expected to make a different sound when 'hurt' and respond to that second sound from their neighbors by hiding.
Suppose one starts from a small set of 'Adam and Eve' strategies randomized across a cellular automata array, and uses a genetic algorithm which operates purely locally by cross-breeding strategies with their most successful neighbors. Can one, in such an environment, expect evolution of local communities of 'perfect communicators'? With some important qualifications, the answer is 'yes'.