bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Of Words and Swords: Therapeutic Imagination in Action—A Study of Chapter 30 of the Zhuangzi , “Shuo Jian” 說劍
Authors: Graziani Romain
Published: April 2014

How can you bring about sudden and radical moral change in someone who shows himself blatantly impervious to reason, who cannot be forced in any way and may end your own life at his will? This crucial issue was discussed and debated with growing acumen throughout the Warring States period and underlies many a speech strategy, from Mencius’ encounters with the grandees of his time down to the cunning rhetorical devices used by diplomats sent on perilous missions among the contending states of the third century B.C. In the heretofore neglected chapter 30 of the Zhuangzi , “Persuading with Swords,” a strange tale casting Zhuang Zhou himself as a fake swordsman, the author conceives of a very specific intervention in the activities of the swashbuckling ruler of Zhao in order to stop him from inciting lethal battles among his champions and wreaking havoc on his State. We attend as readers to a new form of moral persuasion based on the therapeutic powers of imagination, which turns the Prince of Zhao’s own desire against him. This chapter may be construed as a reflection on the power of fiction embedded in a farcical hoax, in which the author seems to have made headway with the problem tackled in chapter 4, “In the World of Men” (“Renjian shi” 人間世), dealing mainly with scholars’ perilous political missions. The present study translates, comments on, and interprets the radical switch of perspective adopted in the attempt to solve the problem of the inefficacy of speech in certain critical contexts. Zhuang Zhou’s intervention is analyzed in the light of modern psychotherapeutic techniques also used to bring about a satisfactory change in persons who suffer from obsessions or violent behaviors, and contrasts them with traditional forms of persuasion best exemplified in the Mencius , which chapter 30 ironically references in a subtle interplay.
Gandhi, Deep Religious Pluralism, and Multiculturalism
Authors: Gier Nicholas F.
Published: April 2014

Here Gandhi’s position on religious pluralism is re-evaluated in light of recent work on the subject. Section I expands on David R. Griffin’s critique of John Hick’s theory of religious pluralism. Griffin contends that Hick’s view contains an inherent bias for some Hindu and Buddhist schools and that it does not offer a sufficient grounding for ethics. Section II examines Sharada Sugirtharajah’s thesis that Gandhi’s views are substantially similar to Hick’s. Although there may be some instructive similarities, some significant differences can be pointed out. The most important is Gandhi’s pantheism and immanentism, which contrasts with Hick’s insistence on a transcendent Real that has no qualities. Section III summarizes Griffin’s “deep” or “complementary” religious pluralism, and although Gandhi may be open to most aspects of this view—particularly John B. Cobb’s concept of mutual transformation—Gandhi leaves the ontology-based theories of Griffin and Hick with his doctrine that Truth is God, discussed section IV. Sugirtharajah raises some issues surrounding postmodernism, so in section V it is argued that Gandhi’s views actually go beyond religious pluralism to a “constructive postmodern” multiculturalism that embraces both the sacred and the secular.
Sakya Paṇḍita’s Anti-Realism As a Return to the Mainstream
Authors: Gold Jonathan C.
Published: April 2014

Sakya Paṇḍita (Sa-paṇ) (1182–1251), one of Tibet’s most revered and influential philosophers, often complained about the inadequacies of his Tibetan rivals. This essay analyzes two passages from Sa-paṇ’s Treasury of Reasoning (Tshad ma rigs pa’i gter) to display his belief that his contemporaries had adopted non-Buddhist approaches to the philosophy of language, and to explicate his attempts to return Tibetans to positions more reminiscent of Vasubandhu and Dharmakīrti. The first passage treated is Sa-pan. ’s discussion of “appearance” (snang ba) , in which he critiques the idea of granting “perceptual” status to what he deems conceptual constructions. The second passage contains Sa-paṇ’s own view of the linguistic “signified” (brjod bya) and his karmically grounded causal theory of linguistic signification. Sa-paṇ’s analyses help to illuminate the depths of a traditional Buddhist approach to language by refusing to cede its core assumptions in the face of more moderate, commonsense views.
Rectify the Heart-Mind for the Art of Living: a Gongfu Perspective on the Confucian Approach to Desire
Authors: Ni Peimin
Published: April 2014

Different from the commonly used moralistic perspective, this essay articulates and evaluates major ideas about human desire within the Confucian tradition through a gongfu perspective and shows that although there are historical reasons for blaming Confucianism for suppressing human desires and suffocating humanity, what classic Confucianism advocates is ultimately about how to cultivate humanity, transform human desires, and live artistically, and not about how to impose a rigid normative moral system externally to constrain human life, making it unsatisfying.
Meontological Generativity: A Daoist Reading of the Thing
Authors: Chai David
Published: April 2014

When it comes to the entity known as the Thing ( das Ding ), two philosophical interpretations are available: the ontological by Martin Heidegger and the ethical by Jacques Lacan. This essay offers a third in the guise of Daoist meontology. As Daoist cosmogony unfolds by way of nothingness ( wu 無) and Dao acting in conjunction, the Thing cannot exist at that primal level of creation; it arises in the undifferentiated wholeness of the One. By locating the Thing as such, Daoism bestows upon it the mysteriousness of Dao, ensuring that it remains unspoiled by human endeavors and is a feat neither Heidegger nor Lacan can claim. The Thing thus protects Daoism against claims of nihilism, for each thing returns to its ancestral Thing, not to the nothingness that Dao employs to mold them.
Mysticism and The Notion of God in Nishida’s Philosophy of Religion
Authors: Leonardi Andrea
Published: April 2014

In Nishida Kitarō’s An Inquiry into the Good and The Logic of Locus and the Religious Worldview , written respectively at the beginning and at the end of his philosophical career, one can find remarkably similar references to mysticism which nevertheless give opposite evaluations of the phenomenon: while mysticism is highly praised in the former, it is disparaged in the latter. This essay is a reflection on the nature of and the reasons for these opposing evaluations, focusing on the changes in Nishida’s ideas of God and ultimate reality. This, perhaps, is a starting point to an assessment of the evolution of Nishida’s thought and its import for the problem of religion. It is argued that the rejection of mysticism by Nishida later in life corresponds to a narrowing of the horizon of his philosophy, and, regardless of its depth and truth-value, this reduces its importance as a philosophy of religion. For Nishida’s narrowing scope makes his later philosophy unfit to provide an understanding of religious experience as such, as it has grown constricted to the interpretation and apologetics of a particular religious mindset.
On Knowing Universals: The Nyāya Way
Authors: Chadha Monima
Published: April 2014

Presented here are arguments for the novel and interesting Navya-Nyāya thesis that we can be perceptually acquainted with universals or properties (nominalist arguments will not be addressed directly: we start out with the assumption that there are universals!). The first section briefly explicates the Nyāya notion of universals and then states the formal Nyāya position on how we might come to know universals. The second section analyzes the Nyāya arguments for the thesis that universals are perceived, rather than merely thought about or conceived, first by rehearsing the arguments for a theory of real perceivable universals, offered by Jayanta Bhaṭṭa in his Nyāyamañjarī , and then by detailing Gaṅgeśa’s unique contribution to this debate: the idea that universals or qualifiers are given as objects in indeterminate or non-conceptual perception. The third section argues that this thesis should be welcomed by direct realists. This essay aims to articulate a deep connection between direct realism about the external world and the availability of universals in nonconceptual perception, as opposed to the non-conceptual awareness of bare particulars.
Disaster Vulnerability of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers: A Comparison of Texas and North Carolina
Authors: Gares Christine E. , Montz Burrell E.
Published: April 2014

Los trabajadores agrícolas migrantes y de temporada (MSFW) constituyen una población de alto riesgo con respecto a factores de salud, falta de vivienda, la naturaleza de su trabajo, la falta de redes sociales y barreras idiomáticas. Dada su naturaleza, los MSFW pueden ser desproporcionadamente vulnerables a fenómenos naturales extremos, como tornados, huracanes, y calor extremo. Investigaciones anteriores en Carolina del Norte han ilustrado el solapamiento entre localidades MSFW y regiones de riesgo. Texas también tiene una gran industria agrícola en la que participan los MSFW. El propósito de esta investigación es comprender dónde los MSFW están en mayor riesgo al explorar la peligrosidad del lugar en relación con la distribución espacial de la población MSFW. El nivel cuantificable de peligrosidad es un reflejo del riesgo previsto de los huracanes, el calor, y los tornados que se produce en varias regiones de los dos estados. Los resultados de llenan un vacío en nuestro conocimiento de la magnitud del riesgo que los MSFW enfrentan con implicaciones para las comunidades de preparación de salud pública y emergencias.
Louisiana: Apprehending a Complex Web of Vernacular Regional Geography
Authors: McEwen John W.
Published: April 2014

América del Norte está cubierta por un mosaico multiescalar de regiones vernáculas. Estas regiones pueden ser geográficamente suficientemente grandes como para cubrir muchos estados (El Medio Oeste o el Sur) y lo suficientemente pequeñas para ser consideradas micro-regiones vernáculas, abarcando no más que los barrios de una ciudad. En un estado del tamaño de Louisiana, las regiones vernáculas tienden a ser de tamaño mediano y familiar sólo para personas que viven en grupos de poblaciones alrededor del estado. Este estudio explora el mosaico de la geografía regional de Louisiana utilizando la forma de nombrar establecimientos comerciales como forma de conocimiento popular de las regiones vernáculas en el estado y utiliza SIG para cartografiar las regiones.
Spatial Trends and Factors Associated with Hardwood Mortality in the Southeastern United States
Authors: Crosby Michael K. , Fan Zhaofei , Leninger Theodor D. , Spetich Martin A. , Self A. Brady
Published: April 2014

Las especies de madera dura juegan un papel fundamental en los ecosistemas forestales en el sureste de los Estados Unidos. Esto requiere una evaluación de las tendencias de la mortalidad en estas especies, así como los factores asociados a éstas. Este estudio evaluó las tendencias de mortalidad para las especies de madera dura utilizando análisis de inventario de bosque ( Forest Inventory Analysis ), datos del Servicio Forestal de los Estados Unidos durante dos ciclos consecutivos de inventario utilizando modelos kernels smoothing y Classification and Regression Tree (CART). El primer ciclo de inventario (2000–2004) revela una tendencia y factores asociados que pueden estar asociados con la disminución de eventos que se han repetido en toda la región, mientras que el segundo ciclo de inventario (2005–2009) exhibe una tendencia diferente en la mortalidad del ciclo uno. Estas diferencias podrían deberse a fenómenos meteorológicos extremos (como huracanes) que afectaron la región durante el segundo ciclo de inventario. Las tendencias de mortalidad y sus factores asociados deben ser monitoreadas con la esperanza de poder desarrollar métodos para mitigar los impactos extremos de estas especies de vital importancia.
The Great Lakes-to-Florida Highway: A Politics of Road Space in 1920s West Virginia and Virginia
Authors: Gilley Jessey
Published: April 2014

Los estadounidenses gastan gran parte de sus vidas en las carreteras, pero pocos entienden las complejas geografías detrás de su desarrollo. La política, la escala, y la imaginación geográfica están indeleblemente entrelazadas en el proceso de potenciación y construcción de carreteras. En los últimos años, los geógrafos han fomentado la investigación sobre movilidades pasadas, incluyendo el espacio vial. Este artículo aborda los esfuerzos para vincular los Grandes Lagos y Florida a través de West Virginia y el suroeste de Virginia durante la década de 1920, un período de transición en la historia del desarrollo de carreteras cuando el Sistema de Autopistas de los EE.UU. numeradas reemplazó los caminos histórico-escénicos nombrados. El sur de West Virginia y el suroeste de Virginia a menudo se consideran como remotos y aislados, pero éstos fueron vistos como un enlace esencial en la autopista de los Great Lakes a Florida y la autopista Cleveland-Marietta-Asheville-Florida.
Do Incentives Work?: An Analysis of Residential Solar Energy Adoption in Miami-Dade County, Florida
Authors: Varela-Margolles Aileen , Onsted Jeffrey
Published: April 2014

En el umbral de las predicciones científicas sobre los efectos nocivos del cambio climático, es fundamental promulgar políticas energéticas eficaces que puedan con éxito llevar a la sociedad humana de los combustibles fósiles a las fuentes renovables. En este estudio hemos querido identificar cuáles, si algunas, características demográficas en el Condado de Miami-Dade, Florida tipificaron a propietarios frente a los no-propietarios de unidades de energía solar y qué factores influyeron en su decisión de comprar o no comprar unidades solares. También hemos tratado de determinar su conocimiento de los incentivos. A través de una combinación de encuestas individuales por correo y análisis de SIG de datos demográficos y de propiedad solar del Condado, encontramos diferencias significativas en la propiedad solar y el conocimiento de incentivos basados en ingresos, pero no en hispanidad. Los datos de la encuesta también mostraron una fuerte correlación entre el conocimiento de los incentivos y la propiedad de las unidades solares. La mayoría de los encuestados que compraron una unidad indicaron que lo hicieron por razones económicas y ambientales.
The Politics of Queenship in Francis Bacon’s The History of the Reign of King Henry VII and John Ford’s Perkin Warbeck
Authors: Meyer Allison Machlis
Published: April 2014

Scholarly attention to Francis Bacon’s The History of the Reign of King Henry VII has missed the political import of the text’s criticisms of Henry VII’s relationship with his wife, Elizabeth York, while approaches to John Ford’s Perkin Warbeck have overlooked the play’s intertextual engagement with The History ’s view of royal marriage. In this essay, I argue that Bacon identifies a monarch’s policies toward his queen consort as central to that monarch’s successes or failures through an intentionally fictive account of Henry VII’s oppression and estrangement of Elizabeth, a view of monarchal politics that emerges in response to James I’s negotiation of relationships with his female kin. As Perkin Warbeck answers the questions about royal marriage posed in The History by promoting a fantasy of apolitical queenship, it also critiques the political influence of Queen Henrietta Maria in the early years of Charles I’s reign.
Reading the Medieval in Early Modern Monster Culture
Authors: Patterson Serina
Published: April 2014

This article explores the ways in which early modern authors reimagined medieval texts and figures within monster discourse. While medieval monsters are typically found on the edges of civilized space, early modern writers occasionally situate ‘medievalized’ monsters within domestic settings, locating a medieval alterity both temporally and geographically in the process of past-creation. I analyze two cases from seventeenth-century print culture: the hog-faced monster Tannakin Skinker in A Certaine Relation of the Hog-Faced Gentlewoman called Mistris Tannakin Skinker (1640) becomes an urban loathly lady through a pamphleteer’s satirical use of John Gower and his “The Tale of Florent,” and Richard Johnson, among other writers, fashions the early modern folk hero Tom Thumb textually and visually as an Arthurian knight. Rather than quest in far-off locales, the midget Tom instead turns the familiar domestic landscape into a site of adventure. In both cases, the locus of the everyday becomes a place of spectacle and wonder.
Jonson’s Universal Parasite: Patronage and Embodied Critique in “To Penshurst”
Authors: Remien Peter
Published: April 2014

This article focuses on Ben Jonson’s use of the parasite as a strategy for both occupying and subverting systems of literary production. Drawing upon the critical theory of Michel Serres, I consider the parasite as a figure that introduces “noise” or “interference” into an otherwise orderly system in order to rewrite that system for personal advantage. By working both within and against the discourse of household “oeconomy”—a term that designates the early modern art of household management—the parasite enables Jonson to criticize patronage networks even as he participates in them. Specifically, I argue that Jonson’s incongruous appearance as a gluttonous parasite in “To Penshurst” works to reconfigure the social and natural hierarchies upon which the poem is structured in order to enable alternative social interactions aligned on a horizontal rather than vertical axis. This allows Jonson temporarily to level distinctions between poet and patron by displaying the fact that the patron, like the poet, participates in the abject sociality of the parasite.
Stoics, Epicureans, and the “sound sincerity of the gospel” in Book 2 of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene
Authors: Hubbard Gillian
Published: April 2014

Edmund Spenser provides a complex allegorical presentation of the Aristotelian mean in book 2 of The Faerie Queene , and draws on Platonic and Stoic treatments of temperance. But Spenser’s depiction of temperance, this article argues, gives primacy to theological approaches which overlie the classical. Protestant theologian Peter Martyr Vermigli had argued, against Aquinas, that Aristotle’s mean can be applied to the theological virtues, because “this mean is prescribed in the holy scriptures.” Spenser’s depiction of Sir Guyon’s fight with Huddibras and Sansloy echoes Paul’s verbal battle with the Stoics and Epicureans in Acts 17, a battle portrayed by Calvin as fighting for “the sound sincerity of the gospel.” Spenser’s use of Christ’s cleansing of the temple in the Bower of Bliss episode resonates with a sermon by Archbishop Edwin Sandys on this gospel story. Both Sandys and Spenser are concerned with those who destroy the souls of men by denying them access to the teaching of the scriptures.
Noxal Surrender, the Deodand , and the Laws of King Alfred
Authors: Jurasinski Stefan
Published: April 2014

This article considers provisions of the laws issued by Alfred the Great that offer remedies for inadvertent harm and are supposed examples of “noxal surrender.” The clauses in question concern injuries by dogs and oxen, and death by falling trees. Scholars have long been fascinated by these instances, and they have routinely deemed them survivals of folk-law in Alfred’s compilation in work published in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The present article questions such conclusions. That these clauses are indebted in some fashion to ordinances of the Pentateuch—a possibility given little consideration in prior scholarship—perhaps better explains their role in Alfred’s laws than conjectures about the nature of primitive custom. As for the clauses themselves, their significance has likely been misunderstood. The celebrated clause on trees in particular fits not at all within the framework of noxal liability so often adduced to explain it, being instead an amalgam of biblical source material and notions drawn from the written legal traditions of the Anglo-Saxons.
UNC Wilson MS 547 ~ “Blind Zeal or Party Enthusiasm”: A Freethought Response to Henry Sacheverell and the Stresses of 1710
Authors: Scheinman Ted
Published: April 2014

This article locates the hitherto unknown manuscript poem “Blind Zeal or Party Enthusiasm” within the political context of 1710 and, in turn, examines Henry Sacheverell’s impact on Deism and Freethought in light of “Blind Zeal.” A complete text of the poem, with certain historical and critical annotations, is offered below. Finally, I offer an interpretation of the poem that may narrow our possibilities for attribution—focusing, most crucially, on the author’s construction of the poem’s speaker: an earnest and sententious individual compelled, by the violence of the religious schisms of 1709, to a fraught meditation on brotherhood. For years, John Toland and other Freethinkers had chronicled the rise of faction, and the Sacheverell Affair seemed to bring their worst nightmares to life. The poet of “Blind Zeal” draws on these very real anxieties—using a locus communis from Virgil’s Eclogues as a classical touchstone—but offers a glimmer of optimism in his valedictory invocation of Aesop, an author imitated by both the Earl of Shaftesbury and Toland.
De Doctrina Christiana and Milton’s Theology of Liberation
Authors: Kerr Jason A.
Published: April 2014

If Milton’s De Doctrina Christiana has fostered debate about his theological positions, this essay argues that, in terms of the treatise, his theological process takes on greater importance than its results. Milton’s treatise theorizes a model of interpretative liberty rooted in his understanding of a Father and Son who differ in both number and essence, but who are unified through participation in the same process of profession. In a similar vein, human unity requires freely engaging in the process of working out one’s beliefs for oneself, even if the process invariably produces divergent results. The key to unifying these divergent results is the same “rule of charity” that Milton had articulated in the divorce tracts of 1643–45. As an illustration of Milton’s process, this essay probes his practice of rendering scripture into Latin, which brings out the complexities of the agency that engaging in this process of charitably liberated interpretation requires.
Depicting life, analysing the power: The ‘actuality’ of Italian cinema
Authors: Tagliani Giacomo
Published: April 2014

The increasing production of biographical films dealing with power and its figures raises interesting questions about the nature and the aims of political cinema. What are the strategies used to represent people whose public image has completely overlapped to their identity? This matter concerns not only thematic aspects of the biopic genre, but more in depth it discloses fundamental issues at the basis of any theory of cinema. From this point of view, some Italian instances propose original solutions, creating a coherent framework in continuity with a long tradition that has marked the history of Italian thought. This article aims at making a survey of these inputs through the analysis of contemporary relevant texts – above all Il Caimano/The Caiman (Moretti, 2006), Il Divo: La spettacolare vita di Giulio Andreotti/Il Divo (Sorrentino, 2008), Vincere/To Win (Bellocchio, 2009) – in the attempt of defining the space of effectiveness of this new line of development within the huge field of political cinema.
War and military spending in developing countries and their consequences for development
Authors: Collier Paul
Published: April 2014

That military expenditure and conflict have adverse consequences for development is unsurprising but important. The policy challenge is to reduce them. I have suggested that substantial components of military expenditure could be reduced without jeopardizing security interests. Military expenditure does not appear to be an effective deterrent of rebellion, and, if it is reduced in a coordinated manner across a region then external security interests would be unaffected. The resources released by reduced military expenditure could be used to increase growth rates, and this in turn would gradually but effectively reduce the risk of internal conflict. Development, not military deterrence, is the best strategy for a safer society.
Development, inequality, and war in Africa
Authors: Nafziger E. Wayne
Published: April 2014

Five factors contribute to humanitarian crises in Africa. They are: stagnating and declining incomes, rising income inequality, avaricious competition to extract Africa's mineral wealth, military centrality, and a tradition of violent conflict. One factor - ethnic differences - turns out to be a symptom, not a cause of violence. The article discusses these, then continues to suggest that while recognizing that a number of African countries vulnerable to humanitarian emergencies are not amenable to political economy solutions, industrialized countries and international agencies bear substantial responsibility for modifying the international economic order to enhance economic growth and adjustment.
Peaceful warriors and warring peacemakers
Authors: Cooper Neil
Published: April 2014

Discourse and policy on war economies has tended to treat them as separate and distinct from both the pre- and post-conflict economy. In reality, war economies tend to represent simply more violent versions of the neo-patrimonialism and external trade relations that characterize many developing states both before and after conflict. Assuming that peace will inevitably resolve the legacies that war economies leave behind is thus a forlorn hope. In addition, the discourse and control agenda surrounding conflict trade has been constructed in a way that negatively affects peacebuilding. In particular, the focus on certain pariahs or specific conflict goods tends to understate the complexity of war economies and the social function they serve - features that persist into peace.
Angola: Conflict and development, 1962-2002
Authors: Ferreira Manuel Ennes
Published: April 2014

Can a country achieve its development goals or, at least, its economic growth goals when it faces forty years of war? Angola's case serves as a paradigmatic example to answer this question. From 1961 to 1974, Angolans opposed Portuguese colonial rule by violent, revolutionary struggle. But from 1975 (Angola's independence year) to April 2002 (the date of the last cease-fire), a civil war pitted the ruling MPLA party against the main rebel group, UNITA. Macroeconomic performance differed across these two time-periods. The article explores the influence of internal and external economic and political conditions on Angola's development, under circumstances of war, and speculates on Angola's immediate future. The article argues, in particular, that Angola's elites have used the civil war as an excuse behind which to hide atrocious economic policy.
Foreword
Authors: Galbraith James K.
Published: April 2014

The foreword introduces The Economics of Peace and Security Journal (EPSJ) as a new activity of Economists for Peace and Security (EPS). EPSJ is prepared by scholars and specialists, but intended to be accessible to the broader community. EPSJ seeks to support a wider commitment of economists to work on the vital issues of peace and security through research and teaching as well as participation in pubic and policy discussions.
War and reconstruction in northern Mozambique
Authors: Brück Tilman
Published: April 2014

The article discusses some of the economic effects of war in northern Mozambique. It indicates how the historical and structural features of the economy of northern Mozambique restricted post-war reconstruction and post-war poverty alleviation. These features include the dominance of only a few cash crops for export, the absence of much rural trading, poor communication infrastructure, and weak political and state institutions. The specific nature of the internal war further weakened the state through the collapse of tax revenue and export earnings and the massive growth of debt and aid, of which little reached rural northern Mozambique. The article also summarizes key aspects of the geography, climate, markets, and social institutions of northern Mozambique, which define the potential production opportunities for peasant households. Finally, the article suggests how post-war reconstruction could have been more effective in achieving faster post-war poverty alleviation in northern Mozambique.
Introduction
Authors: Brauer Jurgen , Dunne J. Paul
Published: April 2014

The essay introduces the new journal and points out that economists have a long-standing, albeit virtually unknown, history of thinking about questions of conflict, war, and peace. Prominent contributors include Kenneth Arrow, Kenneth Boulding, F.Y. Edgeworth, John Kenneth Galbraith, Jack Hirshleifer, John Maynard Keynes, Lawrence Klein, Wassily Leontief, V.I. Lenin, Friedrich List, Karl Marx, Jean Monnet, Mancur Olson, Vilfredo Pareto, A.C. Pigou, David Ricardo, Lionel Robbins, Joseph A. Schumpeter, Werner Sombart, Thomas Schelling, Adam Smith, Jan Tinbergen, Thorstein Veblen, and Knut Wicksell, a surprisingly diverse assembly. If one draws the net a bit wider and thinks about how societies constitute and regulate themselves, even thinkers such as James Buchanan and Douglass North would be included in this list. Members of society can produce and engage in voluntary exchange and grant-making, or they can produce and appropriate from each other. Clearly, economics as a discipline is intimately linked to issues of conflict, war, and peace.
The making of arms in South Africa
Authors: Dunne J. Paul
Published: April 2014

The article presents a history of South Africa's arms industry. It charts the creation of Armscor, the post-apartheid breaking up of its procurement and production roles to form the current arms producer, Denel, and the even more recent restructuring of the industry. It is a story that shows the continuing legacy of apartheid, underlining the strength of the vested interests that make up the country's military-industrial complex, and highlights the important influence international arms producers can have. The article raises concerns over the structure and governance of the industry and over an arms offset deal associated with the most recently signed major arms acquisition package, and traces the dangers that are present for any small country that becomes embroiled in the international arms market.
The attempt to regulate conflict diamonds
Authors: Gold David
Published: April 2014

NGO's with an interest in peace and development in Africa documented the role of diamonds in conflict while social scientists were researching and modeling the role of natural resources in long-standing violent conflicts. Journalists described what was happening on the ground. The United Nations took an active role as it expanded its mandate to broker and maintain the peace in these conflict zones. And industry, responding to political pressures and changing economic conditions, joined in the efforts to find a solution. Not all governments participated with equal vigor, and many participants prefer to retain a significant degree of ambiguity in the procedures that are established. Future prospects depend upon these stakeholders maintaining an active involvement in the issue. Of even greater importance is to produce a viable pattern of economic development that permits countries to utilize their natural resources without driving conflict.
Civil strife and economic and social policies
Authors: Stiglitz Joseph E.
Published: April 2014

The article compares civil strife in the public arena to labor strikes in the private arena. Both are predicated on incomplete information (both sides believing they can "win," when one - and possibly both - must "lose"). Reasons for conflict, especially in Africa, include the rent-based nature of the economies, the "nothing-much-to-lose" position of many of its participants, the "one-shot" game-theoretic nature of many of its conflicts, and the lack of "voice" of most of its people. The article then draws out six implications for those interested in conflict management and conflict mitigation and comments, for example, on path-dependent irreversibilities of initial policydecisions.
Disparities in Cancer Mortality and Incidence Among American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States
Authors: White Mary C. , Espey David K. , Swan Judith , Wiggins Charles L. , Eheman Christie , Kaur Judith S.
Published: April 2014

Objectives. We used improved data on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) ancestry to provide an updated and comprehensive description of cancer mortality and incidence among AI/AN populations from 1990 to 2009.

Methods. We linked the National Death Index and central cancer registry records independently to the Indian Health Service (IHS) patient registration database to improve identification of AI/AN persons in cancer mortality and incidence data, respectively. Analyses were restricted to non-Hispanic persons residing in Contract Health Service Delivery Area counties in 6 geographic regions of the United States. We compared age-adjusted mortality and incidence rates for AI/AN populations with White populations using rate ratios and mortality-to-incidence ratios. Trends were described using joinpoint analysis.

Results. Cancer mortality and incidence rates for AI/AN persons compared with Whites varied by region and type of cancer. Trends in death rates showed that greater progress in cancer control was achieved for White populations compared with AI/AN populations over the last 2 decades.

Conclusions. Spatial variations in mortality and incidence by type of cancer demonstrated both persistent and emerging challenges for cancer control in AI/AN populations.
Cell Replacement Strategies Aimed at Reconstitution of the β-Cell Compartment in Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Orlando Giuseppe , Gianello Pierre , Salvatori Marcus , Stratta Robert J. , Soker Shay , Ricordi Camillo , Domínguez-Bendala Juan
Published: April 2014

Emerging technologies in regenerative medicine have the potential to restore the β-cell compartment in diabetic patients, thereby overcoming the inadequacies of current treatment strategies and organ supply. Novel approaches include: 1) Encapsulation technology that protects islet transplants from host immune surveillance; 2) stem cell therapies and cellular reprogramming, which seek to regenerate the depleted β-cell compartment; and 3) whole-organ bioengineering, which capitalizes on the innate properties of the pancreas extracellular matrix to drive cellular repopulation. Collaborative efforts across these subfields of regenerative medicine seek to ultimately produce a bioengineered pancreas capable of restoring endocrine function in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes.
Normalizing Metabolism in Diabetic Pregnancy: Is It Time to Target Lipids?
Authors: Barrett Helen L. , Dekker Nitert Marloes , McIntyre H. David , Callaway Leonie K.
Published: April 2014

Outcomes in pregnancies complicated by preexisting diabetes (type 1 and type 2) and gestational diabetes mellitus have improved, but there is still excess morbidity compared with normal pregnancy. Management strategies appropriately focus on maternal glycemia, which demonstrably improves pregnancy outcomes for mother and infant. However, we may be reaching the boundaries of obtainable glycemic control for many women. It has been acknowledged that maternal lipids are important in pregnancies complicated by diabetes. Elevated maternal lipids are associated with preeclampsia, preterm delivery, and large-for-gestational-age infants. Despite this understanding, assessment of management strategies targeting maternal lipids has been neglected to date. Consideration needs to be given to whether normalizing maternal lipids would further improve pregnancy outcomes. This review examines the dyslipidemia associated with pregnancy complicated by diabetes, reviews possible therapies, and considers whether it is time to start actively managing this aspect of maternal metabolism.
Assessing the effects of varied temperature and pH on the growth and sclerotial formation of Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, isolated from paddy field: a case study.
Authors: Dutta Sambit , Das Souvik , Sarkar Abhijit , Tarafdar Jayanta , Chowdhury Ashim
Published: April 2014

Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn, is one of the most important pathogen of rice causing the sheath blight disease which accounts for heavy crop losses in all the major rice growing areas of the world, including tropical Asia. The proliferation of this soil borne pathogen depends on many abiotic factors. The two most common factors associated with the growth and spread of the pathogen is pH and temperature which has been studied in the present study. Both pH and temperature had significant effect on the growth of the fungal mycelial and sclerotial formation. A non-linear regression model for growth of the fungal mycelia revealed that growth occurred best at pH 6.0 and temperature 30°C for all treatments studied. No growth was observed below 15°C. In agricultural fields sclerotia, forms the means for the spread of the pathogen causing secondary disease incidence as well as survival of the pathogen in harsher conditions. Sclerotia formed between the temperatures of 20°C and 30°C, with an optimum at 30°C and pH 6.0. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v8i2.10226    International Journal of Life Sciences Vol.8(2): 2014; 4-9
Microalgae Cultivation in Different pH, Temperature and Media for Lipid Production
Authors: Jayaramareddy Dakshayini , Krishnappa Ravikumar , Thimmappa Girisha Sirangala
Published: April 2014

Lipids produced by microalgal biomass can be grouped into nonpolar lipids and polar lipids, which can be easily converted into biofuels. Microalgal samples were collected from three different ponds of Bangalore and cultured in the laboratory to find the effect of different pH, temperature and media on the production of biomass and lipids. Among these, pH-9, temperature -25°C and Beneck’s media was most suitable for production of biomass (35.80 g/L) and lipids from the isolated microalgae Chlorella sp. compare to Chladospora sp. (13.33 g/L). Chlorella sp. Showed 0.32 (OD) at pH-9, 0.43 (OD) at temperature-25°C and 2.94 (OD) in Beneck’s media. Our result revealed that nutrient supply along with measured variables affects the production of biomass and lipids in different microalgae.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v8i2.10227 International Journal of Life Sciences Vol.8(2): 2014; 13-17
Widening Participation at the University of Edinburgh: Contextual Admissions, Retention, and Degree Outcomes
Authors: Croxford Linda , Docherty Gemma , Gaukroger Rebecca , Hood Kathleen
Published: April 2014

In Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, there is growing recognition that prior qualifications may not provide an adequate indication of the ‘potential’ of applicants from educationally-disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed at university. Universities are being encouraged to use contextual data on neighbourhood characteristics and school performance to identify disadvantaged applicants in the admissions process. Contextualised admissions have been pioneered at the University of Edinburgh since 2004, and this article reports findings on the prior qualifications, retention and degree outcomes of a sample of students who entered the University in 2004–2006. The article describes the distribution of contextual data and discusses the limitations of indicators based on geographical area and school characteristics. Differences in average prior qualifications, retention and degree outcomes associated with indicators of widening participation are small. Statistical models suggest that after taking account of prior qualifications WP-indicated students were as likely to complete an HE qualification and achieve an Honours degree as non-WP students, but they had a lower probability of achieving a higher classification of degree. The findings raise questions for the University about possible causes for lower achievement by disadvantaged students.
Implications of Spatial Variability in Heat Flow for Geothermal Resource Evaluation in Large Foreland Basins: The Case of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
Authors: Weides Simon , Majorowicz Jacek
Published: April 2014

Heat flow and geothermal gradient of the sedimentary succession of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) are mapped based on a large thermal database. Heat flow in the deep part of the basin varies from 30 mW/m2 in the south to high 100 mW/m2 in the north. As permeable strata are required for a successful geothermal application, the most important aquifers are discussed and evaluated. Regional temperature distribution within different aquifers is mapped for the first time, enabling a delineation of the most promising areas based on thermal field and aquifer properties. Results of previous regional studies on the geothermal potential of the WCSB are newly evaluated and discussed. In parts of the WCSB temperatures as high as 100–210 °C exist at depths of 3–5 km. Fluids from deep aquifers in these “hot” regions of the WCSB could be used in geothermal power plants to produce electricity. The geothermal resources of the shallower parts of the WCSB (>2 km) could be used for warm water provision (>50 °C) or district heating (>70 °C) in urban areas.
Adaptive Response in Animals Exposed to Non-Ionizing Radiofrequency Fields: Some Underlying Mechanisms
Authors: Cao Yi , Tong Jian
Published: April 2014

During the last few years, our research group has been investigating the phenomenon of adaptive response in animals exposed to non-ionizing radiofrequency fields. The results from several separate studies indicated a significant increase in survival, decreases in genetic damage as well as oxidative damage and, alterations in several cellular processes in mice pre-exposed to radiofrequency fields and subsequently subjected to sub-lethal or lethal doses of γ-radiation or injected with bleomycin, a radiomimetic chemical mutagen. These observations indicated the induction of adaptive response providing the animals the ability to resist subsequent damage. Similar studies conducted by independent researchers in mice and rats have supported our observation on increased survival. In this paper, we have presented a brief review of all of our own and other independent investigations on radiofrequency fields-induced adaptive response and some underlying mechanisms discussed.
Gentamicin Blocks the ACh-Induced BK Current in Guinea Pig Type II Vestibular Hair Cells by Competing with Ca2+ at the l-Type Calcium Channel
Authors: Yu Hong , Guo Chang-Kai , Wang Yi , Zhou Tao , Kong Wei-Jia
Published: April 2014

Type II vestibular hair cells (VHCs II) contain big-conductance Ca2+-dependent K+ channels (BK) and L-type calcium channels. Our previous studies in guinea pig VHCs II indicated that acetylcholine (ACh) evoked the BK current by triggering the influx of Ca2+ ions through l-type Ca2+ channels, which was mediated by M2 muscarinic ACh receptor (mAChRs). Aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as gentamicin (GM), are known to have vestibulotoxicity, including damaging effects on the efferent nerve endings on VHCs II. This study used the whole-cell patch clamp technique to determine whether GM affects the vestibular efferent system at postsynaptic M2-mAChRs or the membrane ion channels. We found that GM could block the ACh-induced BK current and that inhibition was reversible, voltage-independent, and dose-dependent with an IC50 value of 36.3 ± 7.8 µM. Increasing the ACh concentration had little influence on GM blocking effect, but increasing the extracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]o) could antagonize it. Moreover, 50 µM GM potently blocked Ca2+ currents activated by (-)-Bay-K8644, but did not block BK currents induced by NS1619. These observations indicate that GM most likely blocks the M2 mAChR-mediated response by competing with Ca2+ at the l-type calcium channel. These results provide insights into the vestibulotoxicity of aminoglycoside antibiotics on mammalian VHCs II.
Block of the Mevalonate Pathway Triggers Oxidative and Inflammatory Molecular Mechanisms Modulated by Exogenous Isoprenoid Compounds
Authors: Tricarico Paola , Kleiner Giulio , Valencic Erica , Campisciano Giuseppina , Girardelli Martina , Crovella Sergio , Knowles Alessandra , Marcuzzi Annalisa
Published: April 2014

Deregulation of the mevalonate pathway is known to be involved in a number of diseases that exhibit a systemic inflammatory phenotype and often neurological involvements, as seen in patients suffering from a rare disease called mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD). One of the molecular mechanisms underlying this pathology could depend on the shortage of isoprenoid compounds and the subsequent mitochondrial damage, leading to oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines’ release. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that cellular death results from the balance between apoptosis and pyroptosis, both driven by mitochondrial damage and the molecular platform inflammasome. In order to rescue the deregulated pathway and decrease inflammatory markers, exogenous isoprenoid compounds were administered to a biochemical model of MKD obtained treating a murine monocytic cell line with a compound able to block the mevalonate pathway, plus an inflammatory stimulus. Our results show that isoprenoids acted in different ways, mainly increasing the expression of the evaluated markers [apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, nucleotide-binding oligomerization-domain protein-like receptors 3 (NALP3), cytokines and nitric oxide (NO)]. Our findings confirm the hypothesis that inflammation is triggered, at least partially, by the shortage of isoprenoids. Moreover, although further studies are necessary, the achieved results suggest a possible role for exogenous isoprenoids in the treatment of MKD.
Synthesis of Environmentally Friendly Highly Dispersed Magnetite Nanoparticles Based on Rosin Cationic Surfactants as Thin Film Coatings of Steel
Authors: Atta Ayman , El-Mahdy Gamal , Al-Lohedan Hamad , Al-Hussain Sami
Published: April 2014

This work presents a new method to prepare monodisperse magnetite nanoparticles capping with new cationic surfactants based on rosin. Core/shell type magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized using bis-N-(3-levopimaric maleic acid adduct-2-hydroxy) propyl-triethyl ammonium chloride (LPMQA) as capping agent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to characterize the nanoparticles chemical structure. Transmittance electron microscopies (TEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) were used to examine the morphology of the modified magnetite nanoparticles. The magnetite dispersed aqueous acid solution was evaluated as an effective anticorrosion behavior of a hydrophobic surface on steel. The inhibition effect of magnetite nanoparticles on steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solution was investigated using potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results obtained from both potentiodynamic polarisation and EIS measurements reveal that the magnetite nanoparticle is an effective inhibitor for the corrosion of steel in 1.0 M HCl solution. Polarization data show that magnetite nanoparticles behave as a mixed type inhibitor. The inhibition efficiencies obtained from potentiodynamic polarization and EIS methods are in good agreement.