bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of the disinfectant Virkon S on early life-stages of the moor frog (Rana arvalis)
Authors: Hangartner Sandra , Laurila Anssi
Published: November 2012

Emerging diseases, such as the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, contribute to global population declines of amphibians. Virkon S is one of the most commonly used disinfectants to reduce risk of spreading such pathogens. Virkon S is classified as harmful to aquatic organisms, but until today no negative effects on tadpoles have been reported. We studied the effects of three concentrations of Virkon S on early life-stages (embryos and hatchlings) of the moor frog Rana arvalis. Overall, Virkon S had no significant effects. However, hatching success was highest in the control treatment, suggesting that Virkon S may have weak negative effects on amphibian embryos. We suggest that further studies are needed to assess the negative effect of Virkon S on amphibians, and recommend that Virkon S is used with care and a minimized run-off into natural wetlands.
Relative importance of reproductive life-history paths in one population of the lizard Sceloporus grammicus
Authors: Zúñiga-Vega J. Jaime , Molina-Zuluaga Claudia , Hernández-Gallegos Oswaldo , Manríquez-Morán Norma L. , Rodríguez-Romero Felipe , Villagrán-Santa Cruz Maricela , Méndez-de la Cruz Fausto R.
Published: November 2012

Life cycles of living organisms are composed of distinct sub-cycles that represent alternative life-history paths with differential impact on fitness. We identified three reproductive life-history paths (referred here as loops) in the life cycle of one population of the viviparous lizard Sceloporus grammicus. We evaluated the relative importance of each one of these reproductive paths for the population fitness of these lizards during a 5-year period. The first path corresponded to early reproduction and included survival to maturity and early fecundity. The second path was late reproduction loop and included survival to larger adult sizes with the corresponding fecundity rate. The third was composed of those individuals skipping the small adult stage within a single year, reaching larger sizes early in life with their corresponding larger litters (fast growth loop). To examine the potential effects of environmental factors on the relative contribution of these alternative life-history paths to fitness, we estimated stage-specific survival and growth as functions of annual temperature and rainfall. Using these estimates of vital rates we constructed annual population projection matrices. Then, using demographic elasticities and loop analysis, we calculated the relative contribution of each of the three reproductive paths to the population growth rates. Our results showed that the early reproduction loop is the path with the greatest relative contribution to the population growth rate in most years. However, increases in environmental temperature resulted in higher population growth rates and in greater contribution of the fast growth path to the overall fitness of these lizards.
Distribution, suitable areas and conservation status of the Boulenger’s agama (Agama boulengeri, Lataste 1886)
Authors: Vale Cândida Gomes , Tarroso Pedro , Campos João Carlos , Gonçalves Duarte Vasconcelos , Brito José Carlos
Published: November 2012

Agama boulengeri is a West African endemic lizard. It occurs in arid rocky areas in the Mauritanian mountains and Kayes region of Mali. Data on the distribution of Agama boulengeri is however very coarse, and the contribution of climatic and habitat factors for population isolation are unknown. Using Maxent, GLM, and high-resolution data, we generated environmental niche models, and quantified suitable areas for species occurrence. Field observations and predicted suitable areas were used to evaluate the conservation status of Agama boulengeri. Results revealed the species occurs preferentially close to gueltas, bare areas, and rocky deserts and in areas of increasing rainfall. Suitable cells were mostly located in Mauritania, and four potentially fragmented subpopulations were identified. The conservation status of Agama boulengeri was determined to be of Least Concern.
Description of a new Malagasy treefrog (Boophis) occurring syntopically with its sister species, and a plea for studies on non-allopatric speciation in tropical amphibians
Authors: Vences Miguel , Gehara Marcelo , Köhler Jörn , Glaw Frank
Published: November 2012

Based on concordant differences in male advertisement call, tadpole morphology, and absence of haplotype sharing in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers, we describe a new species of treefrog from Ranomafana National Park in the southern central east of Madagascar. In its adult stage Boophis narinsi sp. n. is highly similar to its sister species, Boophis majori, but appears to differ in having longer hindlimbs. The genetic divergences between these two species (2.5-3.3% in a fragment of the 16S rRNA gene, depending on fragment length and individual haplotype analyzed) are below the threshold typically characterizing distinct species of anurans. Together with their relatively small and largely overlapping ranges and their sympatric occurrence in Ranomafana National Park, this indicates that they potentially could have originated rather recently by adaptive speciation under parapatric or sympatric conditions. Most studies on amphibian speciation have so far by default assumed vicariant speciation. We suggest that alternative speciation scenarios should be considered in future works and characterize settings in which more reliable assessments of adaptive parapatric or sympatric speciation could be carried out.
Rearticulating the Concept of Experience, Rethinking the Demands of Deconstruction
Authors: Gormley Steven
Published: November 2012

Abstract

A principle aim of this paper is to convince friends and critics of deconstruction that they have overlooked two crucial aspects of Derrida’s work, namely, his rearticulation of the concept of experience and his account of the experience of undecidability as an ordeal. This is important because sensitivity to Derrida’s emphasis on the ordeal of undecidability and his rearticulation of the concept of experience—a rearticulation that is already under way in his early engagement with Husserl and continued in later work—necessitates a rethinking of what the ‘experience of undecidability’ entails. Rather than signaling a withdrawal from politics or a normatively impotent ethics of ‘mere openness to the other,’ Derrida’s account of the experience of undecidability not only points to a fundamental aspect of our basic ethical experience but also leads to a number of ethico-political demands, which I summarize as the demand to maintain an ethos of interruption.
Economics and Political Economy Today: Introduction to the Symposium on Fine and Milonakis
Authors: Ashman Sam
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Economics has long been the ‘dismal science’. The crisis in classical political economy at the end of the nineteenth century produced radically differing intellectual responses: Marx’s reconstitution of value theory on the basis of his dialectical method, the marginalists’ development of subjective value theory, and the historical school’s advocacy of inductive and historical reasoning. It is against this background that economics was established as a discrete academic discipline, consciously modelling itself on maths and physics and developing its focus on theorising exchange. This entailed extraordinary reductionism, with humans regarded as rational, self-interested actors, and class, society, history and ‘the social’ being excised from economic analysis. On the basis of this narrowing of its concerns, particularly from the 1980s onwards, economics has sought to expand its sphere of influence through a form of imperialism which seeks to apply mainstream economic approaches to other social sciences and sees economics as ‘the universal grammar of social science’. The implications of this shift are discussed in Ben Fine and Dimitris Milonakis’s two volumes, where they analyse the fate of the social, the political and the historical in economic thought, and assess the future for an inter-disciplinary critique of economic reason.
Patricians’ Embrace of the Dominican Convent of St. Catherine in Thirteenth-Century Barcelona
Authors: Zaldívar Antonio M.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In this article, I examine patterns of charitable giving to the mendicant orders in surviving testaments from thirteenth-century Barcelona. My findings reveal that an elite group of wealthy and influential merchant families, the city’s emerging patriciate, provided the majority of charitable contributions to the mendicant friars. The friars’ urban religiosity and propagation of the doctrine of purgatory appealed to patricians, who were heavily involved in commercial activities and increasingly concerned with the fate of their souls in the afterlife. Patricians also utilized their pious contributions to the mendicant friars to bolster their social prestige and legitimize their monopolization of political power in the city. While patricians donated generously to the two largest mendicant orders (Dominicans and Franciscans), they contributed more money to the Dominican convent of St. Catherine. Patricians favored the Dominicans because of the latter’s superior educational training, their close ties to the kings of the Crown of Aragon, and their association with the city’s municipal government.
The Body (Under Review):On Manuel Vásquez’s More than Belief
Authors: Lofton Kathryn
Published: November 2012

Abstract

What sort of critique of religious studies will enjoin religious studies to think about its premises? This essay evaluates an important contemporary critique of the study of religion, Manuel Vásquez’s More than Belief. The author provides a summary of Vásquez’s argument, and then turns to an analysis of Vásquez’s evidence. In More than Belief, Vásquez tracks the development and effects of mind-body dualism on the study of religion. The differentiation between mind and body is a problem for analysts of religion, Vásquez explains, because religious ideas wrestle so directly with that differentiation, and because scholars seeking to explain religion have often imagined themselves to be countering religious supernaturalism with a materialist empiricism. This is, Vásquez explains, a reductive materialism. Vásquez thus offers an account of how matter came not to matter in the specific effort to explain religion, which Vásquez describes as the somatophobia of religious studies. Borrowing from Vásquez’s emphasis on embodiment and emplacement, the reviewer questions Vásquez’s readings of philosophical materials in his admirable effort to correct a disciplinary disposition for our hermeneutic betterment.
Comparative study of intramandibular glands of workers, queens and males of stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica Latreille (Hymenoptera: Meliponini)
Authors: Maschio Daniela A. , Gracioli-Vitti Luciana F. , Cruz-Landim Carminda
Published: November 2012

The mandibles of bees contain two types of tegumental glands whose function is not clear, despite the hypotheses put forward by several researchers. Although these glands have been found in all the bee species studied so far, observations have been confined mostly to workers of eusocial species in the forager phase. The work reported here involved a study of the morphology of the glands of newly emerged, nurse and forager workers, virgin and fecundated queens, and newly emerged and sexually mature males of Scaptotrigona postica, seeking to identify changes that may be linked to the bee’s life phase. Our findings indicate that the two types of glands are present in the species but not in all life phases or individual classes. The glands consisting of class I cells, the epithelial glands are present only in forager workers and fecundated queens. Glands of type III cells were studied in detail, and gland size was estimated from histological sections. The degree of development of the glands varies according to individual classes and life phases, suggesting different functions during the individual’s life and from one individual to another.
Preventive Diplomacy Work in the Organization of American States (OAS): The 2006 Elections in Guyana
Authors: Lesser Taryn
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The South American country of Guyana has a history of turmoil and violence around its presidential elections. The 2006 elections, however, were cited as largely free of violence and post-election unrest. While the peaceful outcome may be attributed to a number of factors, the involvement of the Organization of American States in setting up an electoral observation mission and in engaging in preventive diplomacy played a constructive role in the process, in addition to other ongoing initiatives. This article examines the OAS’ use of its mandate for the preservation of democracy as an entry point for conflict prevention. In particular, it analyzes the role of election monitoring and the facilitation of dialogue as a form of preventive diplomacy. The article argues that the Guyana case provides an example of the OAS using its democracy promotion mandate to prevent conflict, specifically election-related violence. It also highlights some of the critiques of OAS work in the area of democracy promotion and election monitoring, noting that the organization has engaged in these activities only in selective cases that meet specific criteria.
Common Legal Representation at the International Criminal Court: More Symbolic than Real?
Authors: Haslam Emily , Edmunds Rod
Published: November 2012

One way in which logistical challenges of multiple victim participants at the International Criminal Court are managed is through common legal representation. This looks set to effect significant changes in the nature of representation. First, minimising the number of groups into which victim participants are arranged rests on a problematic assumption that survivors share largely homogenous interests in participation. Second, practical constraints challenge the effectiveness of common representation on this scale. Third, whilst the Court has sought to underline the importance of consultations about representation with victims, circumstances severely curtail their feasibility. Finally, the procedure for appointment raises the spectre that common legal representation could become an indirect tool to monitor counsel, prompting questions about who can legitimately claim to speak for victims. Taken together these factors risk reducing the range of voices in the courtroom and rendering representation more symbolic than real.
Prediction and Power: Prophets and Prophecy in the Old Testament and Zimbabwean Christianity
Authors: Gunda Masiiwa Ragies
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The prominence of prophets such as TB Joshua of Nigeria and Immanuel Makandiwa of Zimbabwe has triggered debates on the nature of prophets and prophecy. Through a socio-historical and reception historical analysis, this article contends that there are two major characteristics of prophets, that is, the ability to make accurate predictions and the ability to confound nature and normalcy by manifesting unrivalled power through healing and other activities. These characteristics are observable in the activities of Zimbabwean prophets both pioneers such as Masowe, Marange, Mutendi and contemporary ones like Makandiwa. It is also noted that the narratives of Old Testament prophets, especially Elijah and Elisha, are used by contemporary prophets to confirm that their own ‘signs and deeds’ are in line with those of the great prophets of God. The extraordinary abilities of these prophets are seen as proof of their being divinely chosen, hence the multitude of followers who are in need of their ‘signs and wonders’.
Evolution in the Concept of Sunnah during the First Four Generations of Muslims in Relation to the Development of the Concept of an Authentic Ḥadīth as Based on Recent Western Scholarship
Authors: Duderija Adis
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The aim of this article is to trace the evolution in the meaning of the concept of Sunnah prior to its classical definition, which largely confluences it with the concept of an authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) Ḥadīth as defined by the classical Ḥadīth sciences. This article will first describe the semanico-contextual changes in the meaning of the term Sunnah during the period under examination and then present a chronological analysis of the development of the concept ‘Sunnah’ in relation to the development of the concept ‘authentic Ḥadīth’. This article argues that during the first four generations of Muslims, the concept ‘Sunnah’ remained epistemologically independent of the concept ‘authentic Ḥadīth’ and that evaluation of Sunnah compliance with a certain practice or belief remained methodologically independent to that of the concept of an authentic Ḥadīth, as defined by classical ʿulūm al-ḥadīth sciences.
Patron Deities of the Hunt and Wild Animals in Dagestan
Authors: Seferbekov Ruslan
Published: November 2012

The paper discusses the characteristic features and spheres of activities of the patron deities of the hunt, masters of the animals and protectors of game and wildlife in the folk beliefs of the Dagestani highlanders―different groups of Avars, Laks, Lezgins, Dargins, Tabasaranis, Tsakhurs, Rutuls, and Kumyks. Some of these deities are ambivalent figures equally standing as harmful demons, who steal the foetus of righteous women, new-born babies or cows.
The Use of Paratextual Elements in Targum Research
Authors: Houtman Alberdina
Published: November 2012

Targum manuscripts and early printed editions consist of more than just the text. They also include diverse paratextual elements to give the user information on how to read and understand the text. This information can be very useful in research on interpretation and textual history. The added information is sometimes difficult to interpret because the key to how to interpret and weigh the information is not always obvious. In this article some kinds of paratextual information are discussed within the context of cultural historical Targum research, such as the project of ‘A Jewish Targum in a Christian World’.
Pentecostalism, Human Nature, and Aesthetics: Twenty-First Century Engagement
Authors: Rybarczyk Edmund J.
Published: November 2012

Classical Pentecostals have not intentionally made art, aesthetics, or beauty central to their endeavors or worldview; this lacuna owes, primarily, to specific spiritual emphases. Using theological loci and then exploring some a-rational dimensions of human nature, this paper will answer the pragmatic question, ‘Why should Pentecostals embrace aesthetics?’ Finally, elements central to the Pentecostal way of being will be offered as bridges to engage aesthetes, and to produce beauty and aesthetics. Pentecostals need to avail themselves more intentionally to aesthetics as a constituent part of Christian mission.
The Decline of Clinical Dissections and the “Culture of Death”
Authors: Knoblauch Hubert
Published: November 2012

In recent decades the number of clinical dissections has declined rapidly in all Western societies. In seeking to explain this development, one must set it within the frame of the general role of dead bodies and death in general in contemporary society. Against the background of two opposing theses – the continuing repression of death and the ‘new culture of death’ – this paper sketches the historical development of clinical dissection, whose practice was central to the development of what Foucault called the modern “medical gaze.” The question of the reasons for its decline was addressed by a representative survey which showed that dissections are well accepted by the public. The article concludes that while the reasons for the decline in clinical dissections lie in the health system and modern medical practices, other forms of dissection, dead bodies, and death in general are experiencing increasing popularity, in a popular culture of death.
Public Diplomacy at Home in the UK: Engaging Diasporas and Preventing Terrorism
Authors: Curtis Steven , Jaine Caroline
Published: November 2012

Summary

Not every foreign ministry communicates with its home audience. For some it is unconstitutional; for many it serves no purpose. But for multicultural and particularly former colonial powers, communicating with the home audience has the potential to be a vital tool for engagement, especially as the boundaries between domestic and international are blurred by international travel, migration and global connectivity. This article examines ‘public diplomacy at home’ in the United Kingdom, both as a general policy of the last Labour government and more specifically in the context of initiatives to tackle Islamist terrorism. In terms of the latter, it explores the strengths and limitations of both faith-based approaches to outreach to Muslim communities and a country-based approach to outreach, using Pakistan as a case study.
Recognition of Governments in International Law and the Recent Conflict in Libya
Authors: Schuit Anne
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The meaning of recognition of governments varies in time and between individual States. At a minimum it entails that the recognising State wishes to be bound by the international legal consequences of recognition. How to recognise a government is not defined, as the decision whether or not to recognise a government is a unilateral act and at the discretion of each individual State. The most important criteria for recognising a government are the effective control and the legitimacy doctrine, although some States have decided to abolish the recognition of governments all together. Applying the criteria for recognition of governments to the conflict in Libya in 2011, it is concluded that the recognition of the Transitional National Council by some States while the Gadaffi regime was still in control over large parts of the territory is probably not supported by the effective control or legitimacy doctrine. This could invoke State responsibility.
Social Media and Soft Power: Positioning Turkey’s Image on Twitter
Authors: Uysal Nur , Schroeder Jared , Taylor Maureen
Published: November 2012

This paper explores how Turkey is using social media via Twitter, a public relations strategy, to spread its messages and to establish itself within the international community. Turkey appears to be situating itself as a European, progressive, democratic, secular and Muslim nation that has the potential to influence nations in the Middle East. The rise of social media has revolutionized the way states communicate with the international community. To that end, this study analyzed three top Turkish governmental officials’ personal and official Twitter accounts to examine how Turkey is cultivating its national image using Twitter. The findings suggest Turkey is wielding its soft-power in both the West and the Middle East/North Africa regions. Yet the quantitative analysis reveals that the western emphasis is more prominent in the messages. In its Twitter messages, the Turkish government follows an image cultivation and information subsidy approach in public diplomacy. Contrary to the highly interactive features of this social media tool, Turkish bureaucracy is not engaged in building relationships with its publics through Twitter.
Looking Beyond the Church: The Religious Crisis of Dutch Public Life During the 1960s
Authors: Kennedy James
Published: November 2012

Many parts of Western Europe and North America experienced as Hugh McLeod has noted a ‘religious crisis’ in the 1960s. Yet, this multifaceted ‘religious crisis’ did not affect ‘the church’ alone, as McLeod's work strongly suggests. Politics and civil society also changed substantially. Hit particularly hard by the change in religious sensibilities was the Netherlands, where half the population went to church regularly until the mid-1960s, after which attendance declined rapidly. More than in most other parts of Western Europe, rapid religious change brought about a serious crisis to the institutions of Dutch society. This article seeks to explore the dynamics of traversing the transition from a ‘Christian country’ to a ‘civilised society’ in the course of the Dutch 1960s. In the Netherlands, that transition was relatively rapid and in some respects went further than elsewhere. At the same time, the changes also afforded religious civil society and politics continued opportunities for public presence. In looking at the Netherlands, this contribution hopes to problematize and make new distinctions in McLeod's typification of the 1960s as a decade that hit primarily ‘the churches,’ opening the way to consider the role of other kinds of ‘religious actors’ in this crucial decade, and in its aftermath.
Potential use of reproductive manipulators to control invasive alien ants
Authors: Sakamoto Hironori , Mitsuhashi Wataru
Published: November 2012

Introduction of alien species is a worldwide problem that accompanies human activity. Invasive alien ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are among those predatory invertebrates that cause the greatest damage to native ecosystems and biodiversity, and their management is difficult. Therefore, novel environmental load–reducing (i.e., highly invasive alien ant–specific) management methods are required. In this review, we present novel potential methods of invasive alien ant management that would use microorganisms to manipulate reproduction in the host arthropod. In general, reproductive manipulators force costs against their hosts during reproduction. However, most of the manipulators themselves incur no, or little, cost during the usual life of the host. Therefore, reproductive manipulators can be especially effective against social insects. For example, reproductive manipulators can decrease mating chance for males by killing or feminizing males. In addition, manipulators that induce parthenogenesis or cytoplasmic incompatibility (herein abbreviated CI) may be useful in new techniques for generating sterile males for release. Transinfection with reproductive manipulators by using microinjection techniques has recently become available. This strategy should be of great help in developing and applying this novel management method.
The Nation of the Socialist Intelligentsia: The National Issue in the Political Thought of Early Latvian Socialism
Authors: Ijabs Ivars
Published: November 2012

This article deals with the political debates of early Latvian socialists concerning the national question in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. These debates were crucial for the later development of Latvian politics. The idea of Latvian democratic statehood was first pronounced and advocated in this context. The debate also strongly influenced those Latvian socialists, who as the ‘vanguard of Bolshevism,’ later became devout followers of Lenin. An interaction of several intellectual traditions can be observed in these debates, both German and Russian. The internationalist orientation of the later Bolsheviks (Fricis Roziņš, Pēteris Stučka) is mainly due to the influence of the German Marxism of the Second International. The democratic nationalist orientation (Miķelis Valters), to the contrary, is indebted to the influence of Russian narodniks, particularly Mikhail Bakunin.
(Too) High Expectations of Democracy in Serbia? Interpretation of Empirical Research Results
Authors: Matić Jovanka
Published: November 2012

The paper presents the findings of a public opinion survey and a focus group study on the attitude of Serbian citizens towards democracy, which were conducted in 2010 within the project “Democracy in unstable social spaces – Serbia,” jointly done by the University of Vienna, the Vienna-based Institute for the Danube Area and Central Europe and the Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade. The opinion survey identified deep dissatisfaction of citizens with the general situation in their society, their negative assessments of the actual performance of democracy in Serbia, low confidence in key political institutions, and diminishing willingness for activism and participation in political activities. The focus group study revealed that citizens have high expectations of democracy but remain passive in building the young democratic system of Serbia because neither the political, work nor social environments stimulate them for civic engagement. The paper concludes that a majority of citizens do not expect incentives for progress from within the system but rather expect them from outside, though they differ in views on where these incentives should come from.
Drafting a Constitution for a “Country of words”1
Authors: Delacroix Sylvie
Published: November 2012

Can words – rather than a State (or army) – constitute a country? It may be made of land, rivers, forests or deserts – yet, without its inhabitants’ words, there would be no map to draw, no tale to sing, no country to speak of. Palestinian tales abound. They speak of departed lands, vanished homes, forfeited livelihoods. They lament internal wrangling, squeal occupational anger, seek to whisper away those quotidian checkpoint humiliations. Yet, they also speak of hope. If there ever were such a thing as “authoritative hope”, the ongoing Palestinian constitution drafting process may be it. But hope cannot be formalized, let alone authorized. And there is some danger in pretending otherwise.
Lexical Pragmatic Adjustment and the Nature of Ad hoc Concepts
Authors: Allott Nicholas , Textor Mark
Published: November 2012

According to truth-conditional pragmatics, a word may contribute an ad hoc concept to the proposition expressed, that is, something that differs from the concept the word encodes (the lexicalized concept). In relevance-theoretic lexical pragmatics, ad hoc concepts are treated like a species of concepts proper. Concepts as well as ad hoc concepts are taken to be atomic. Lexical pragmatic adjustment is conceived as the formation of an ad hoc concept that is narrower or broader in extension (or both) than the lexicalized concept involved. We argue that difference in extension should not be taken as the crucial feature of lexical pragmatics, since ad hoc concepts can have the same extension as the lexicalized concept. In contrast, we propose a positive view of ad hoc concepts as clusters of information poised to be used in inference. (Surprisingly, ad hoc concepts turn out not to be concepts at all.) The cluster account drops the assumption that ad hoc concepts are atomic and can therefore provide a satisfactory explanation of lexical pragmatic adjustment.
Modelling the “Aoristic Drift of the Present Perfect” as Inflation An Essay in Historical Pragmatics
Authors: Schaden Gerhard
Published: November 2012

In this article, the diachronic tendency of present perfect forms to become more and more past tense-like is analysed in terms of an inflationary process within an Iterated Learning Model. The paper proposes to improve on current accounts of the diachrony of present perfects (mostly set in the framework of grammaticalisation theory) by making explicit a selfreinforcing causal mechanism that drives the process, namely that speakers overestimate the current relevance contribution of their utterances. The main theoretical issue is to develop an explicit account of language change where modifications in a linguistic system are long-term effects of the use of language, or, put differently, of speaker-hearer interaction and the biases that act upon them.
Transgression of the Frontier: An Analysis of Documents Relating to the British Invasion of Tibet
Authors: Sanderson Henry
Published: November 2012

How did the Tibetans and the Chinese view the British invasion of Tibet in 1904, and why did the Chinese not summon more force to resist? Using Chinese and Tibetan documents from the period, the article analyses views and consequences of the British invasion and the result it had on Chinese attitudes towards Tibet. Looking at the documents, we can see the determination of the Tibetans to defend themselves and how there were different shifts and opinions within the Manchu government about how to deal with the British. They show the Tibetans communicated with the Chinese representative, the Amban, but did not regard his say as authoritative because it had become clear the Chinese could not provide any support. They also suggest that the Chinese non-involvement in Tibet was not just out of weakness but could have been as part of a policy of 'using barbarians to fight barbarians'.
Notes on Tibetan Sources Concerning the 1903–04 Younghusband Military Expedition to Tibet
Authors: Wangdu Pasang
Published: November 2012

This article presents an overview of Tibetan sources relevant to the Younghusband military expedition to Tibet. By focusing on three recent publications of Tibetan historical materials, it highlights the importance of looking at different perspectives on this momentous and controversial episode that marked the early twentieth century and had far-reaching consequences.
On some Problematic Aspects of Subjectification
Authors: Smirnova Elena
Published: November 2012

The aim of this paper is to clarify the notion of subjectivity and subjectification. It is proposed here that subjectification is a purely semantic change, similarly to the view presented in Boye and Harder (2012a). at is, in contrast to other diachronic processes that involve semantic and structural changes and of which subjectification may be a part, e.g., lexicalization, grammaticalization, and pragmaticalization, it does not necessarily correlate with any particular structural changes. Three diagnostic criteria for detecting subjective meaning in linguistic expressions will be introduced. Their application will be demonstrated using examples from the diachrony of German. Additionally, contra to the predominant views on subjectification, a suggestion will be put forward that this process is not gradual and not unidirectional.
Dargāh or Buddha? The Politics of Building a Sufi Sanctuary for Hazrat Inayat Khan in the West
Authors: Roose Eric R.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Recent studies of the dissemination of Islamic architecture in the West have argued that newly devised Islamic buildings would not have attempted to materialise a generalised Islamic identity towards a generalised non-Islamic antagonist. Instead, patrons were shown to have recombined elements from venerated prototypes into whole new iconographies that closely followed internal theological rivalries. In the Dutch dunes near Katwijk a Sufi temple was built in commemoration of the Chishti sage Inayat Khan (d. 1927), a monument which serves as a clarifying case study of the seemingly confusing phenomenon where a shared example from Islamic architectural history, in this instance the Taj Mahal, may be transformed in the modern western landscape in such a manner that neither the prototypical origin nor the contemporary connection between the end results would be recognizable to anyone but a very small number of insiders. Based on a complete chronological reconstruction of the design process of the Katwijk temple, it appears that major shifts in the iconography of this ‘Universel’ occurred even in mid-construction, alternating with competing successors to Inayat Khan and their divergent interpretations of their master’s theological legacy as either Islamic or universal.
Toward A Reformational Philosophical Theory of Action
Authors: Troost Andree
Published: November 2012

During the past 25 years, the words “theory of action” and “agency theory” have become key-terms in a new branch of philosophy. The themes appear to gain a centrality and influence such that one is led to think that they should cover most of philosophy, including the foundation for all of the human sciences. The number of treatises on human action and on philosophical and special-scientific theories of action is staggering. For the most part inspired by analytic philosophy, the new approach threatens to take over that school’s central place on the stage of international philosophical concern. Having ousted theory of science from that position with an avalanche of analytic studies, analytic philosophy, in turn, is now being overrun by philosophy of action as supposedly suitable basis for the sciences.
Dooyeweerd’s Notion of Societal Structural Principles
Authors: Chaplin Jonathan
Published: November 2012

The notion of societal structural principles is the foundation stone of Dooyeweerd’s social philosophy, and of the political and legal philosophy grounded in it, yet it has so far received little detailed critical analysis or constructive reformulation among reformational scholars. The aim of this paper is the modest one of illustrating the kind of analysis still to be done if the notion is to be put to more constructive use within social theory. I shall say little about the epistemological or methodological implications of the notion, concentrating on its central ontological problematics. I shall do so by discussing the notion with special reference to its specific application to one particular societal structure, namely the state. Part I analyses Dooyeweerd’s general account of the notion of societal structural principles. I identify there a number of critical problems running through the paper, especially: a) the problem of how structural principles secure the internal unity of a societal structure; b) the distinction between the invariant character of societal structural principles, and the variable forms in which they are positivised; and c) the undeveloped link between societal structures and the structure of the human person. Part II illustrates these problems (especially the second) in relation to Dooyeweerd’s account of the structural principle of the state. Part III briefly sketches the direction of a possible reformulation of the notion of societal structural principles in the light of a more fully elaborated philosophical anthropology.
Christelijke Geschiedbeschouwing Als Duiding van Traditie
Authors: Kuiper R.
Published: November 2012

De moderne geschiedwetenschap worstelt sinds haar ontstaan in de 19de eeuw met het probleem van het historisme. De resultaten van de moderne geschiedwetenschap werden aan het begin van de vorige eeuw met enthousiasme begroet en deden een ongekend grote belangstelling voor het verleden ontstaan. De ‘nieuwe’ historische methode, die bestond in een positivistische, empirisch-analytische aanpak, bleek in zijn toepassing echter een katalysator van een manifest relativisme in de geschiedwetenschap. De idealistische geschiedfilosofie werd erdoor ontmanteld, maar ook de geschiedenis zelf werd steeds nauwkeuriger en preciezer ontleed. Wat bleef er aan samenhang en betekenis in de geschiedenis over? Het boven dit artikel afgedrukte citaat van Troeltsch geeft de kern van het probleem aan. Het is de historische problematiek van het ‘vergruisde beeld’, zoals J. Romein het eens aanduidde. In dat ‘vergruisde beeld’ is ook alles wat zin, waarde en norm heet in de geschiedenis ontbonden. Het gaat althans schuil achter massa’s feiten die zich maar niet samen lijken te willen voegen in een algemene betekenis.
Normativiteit II: Oorsprong en ondergang van het denken over scheppingsordeningen
Authors: Troost A.
Published: November 2012

In het eerste deel van deze studie (PR 57/1992,3-18) zagen we dat de levensbeschouwelijke idee van een normatieve kosmische wereldorde oorspronkelijk een mythische geloofsidee was, die in vrijwel alle grote godsdiensten voorkwam. In de joodse en christelijke tradities werd deze idee in niet-wetenschappelijke zin geloofsmatig, vanuit het Oude Testament verstaan. Temeer omdat de Schrift op dit punt bepaald niet haaks stond op de algemeen gangbare, religieus-heidense publieke opinie, noch in de tijd van Homerus en Hesiodus, noch in de begintijd van het christendom.89 Vervolgens werden de beide genoemde geloofstradities levensbeschouwelijk, theologisch en wijsgerig verwerkt met hantering van uit het heidendom, voornamelijk uit de Stoa, overgenomen gedachten en denkpatronen.
De Oorspronkelijkheid En Actuele Betekenis Van H. Van Riessen Als Filosoof Van De Techniek
Authors: Haaksma H.W.H.
Published: November 2012

Verwijzend naar de Burndy Library conferentie in 1973 schrijft P.A. Kroes in de inleiding tot de ‘proceedings’ van de internationale conferentie over ‘Technische ontwikkeling en natuurwetenschap in de 19e en 20e eeuw’,1 dat tijdens de eerstgenoemde conferentie de meeste deelnemers van mening waren dat de opvatting van techniek als toegepaste wetenschap onjuist was. Technische produkten volgen niet zonder meer lineair uit de beschikbare natuurwetenschappelijke kennis. Een dergelijke zienswijze leidt bovendien snel tot de gedachte dat bij een autonome ontwikkeling van de natuurwetenschap, ook de techniek zich autonoom zou ontwikkelen. Echter, Kroes moet concluderen, dat ondanks alle moeite die men zich sindsdien heeft gegeven om de verhouding tussen techniek en natuurwetenschap te bestuderen en nader te bepalen, hierin bijzonder weinig vooruitgang is geboekt.
Geen Pluralisme Zonder Levensbeschouwelijke Neutraliteit
Authors: Jacobs F.C.L.M.
Published: November 2012

Hooglands (vriendelijk getoonzette) commentaar op mijn ‘Pluralisme’ komt hierop neer dat levensbeschouwelijke neutraliteit niet mogelijk is, noch voor de overheid, noch voor de individuele burger. We kunnen geen radicale buitenstaanderspositie innemen tegenover de levensbeschouwing die we erop nahouden. Dat zou een vorm van hybris zijn. Wie niettemin levensbeschouwelijke neutraliteit bepleit en deze identificeert met tolerantie voor de levensbeschouwingen van anderen, pretendeert in feite dat het eigen tolerante standpunt moreel superieur is aan het standpunt van al diegenen die aan hun levensbeschouwing vastgeklonken zitten. Dat is moreel verwerpelijk.
Conceptuele Analyse en Christelijk Geloof. Over de Wijsgerige Theologie in Utrecht
Authors: G. Geertsema Henk
Published: November 2012

In het boek Exodus, hoofdstuk 3, wordt verteld hoe God aan Mozes verschijnt in een brandende braambos. De HEER heeft het lijden van Israel in Egypte gezien en wil hen daaruit bevrijden. Daartoe wordt Mozes naar de farao gestuurd om tegen hem te zeggen dat hij Israel moet laten gaan. Met die boodschap moet Mozes eerst naar Israel zelf. Vandaar zijn vraag: wat zullen zij zeggen? Zullen zij mij geloven, als ik zeg dat ik gestuurd ben door de God van hun vader, van Abraham, Isaak en Jakob? Zullen zij niet vragen: wie is die God? Hoe is zijn naam? In antwoord daarop spreekt God de bekende woorden: ‘Ik ben die Ik ben.’ Mozes moet tot de Israelieten zeggen: ‘Ik ben heeft mij tot u gezonden.’ En verder: ‘De HEER (YHWH), de God van uw vaderen, de God van Abraham, de God van Isaak en de God van Jakob, heeft mij tot u gezonden. Dit is mijn naam voor eeuwig en zo wil Ik aangeroepen worden van geslacht tot geslacht.’
Agreed Settlement v. Unfavourable Award in Investment Arbitration
Authors: Voitovich Sergey A.
Published: November 2012

Settlement of a dispute by an agreement is something that in many cases remains behind the curtain. It is axiomatic that if a party has weak chances to obtain a favourable award, it needs to think of a settlement. Settlement may occur at three major phases of dispute evolution as pre-arbitration, pre-award, and post-award settlement. About 30-40 per cent of the concluded ICSID cases have been discontinued by means of an agreed settlement. Only in rare cases the terms of such discontinuance become known to public. The advantages of settlement are: predictability of the outcome, confidentiality, non-admission of liability, saving costs, finality of settlement, possibility of continued cooperation of the parties. The major concerns about settlement are: amount of compensation, disclosure of confidential terms of a failed settlement, responsibility for payment of the settled amount without an award.
Human Rights Protection the ASEAN Way: Non-Intervention and the Newest Regional Human Rights System
Authors: Aguirre Daniel , Pietropaoli Irene
Published: November 2012

The Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) is a regional body working towards the integration of disparate states. The creation of a human rights mechanism, a critical part of this integration, confronts the central philosophy of ASEAN: deference to conservative notions of sovereignty and non-interference, often referred to as the ASEAN Way. This doctrine has been necessary to promote cooperation and trust between these neighbours but may prove incongruent with a human rights body that attempts to monitor and enforce international human rights law. This article looks at the challenges posed by the ASEAN way and how they developed in section 2. Section 3 follows with an examination of the ASEAN Way’s impact on the development of the regional human rights bodies. Section 4 addresses structural problems arising from the ASEAN Way: the limited human rights mandate; the lack of civil society participation; and the lack of common human rights standards among ASEAN states. Overall, this article examines the central irony that the while the ASEAN Way is necessary, it undermines the regional human rights body.
Issues to grapple with in implementing the Ugandan Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Act
Authors: Mujuzi Jamil Ddamulira
Published: November 2012

In April 2012 the Ugandan Parliament passed the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Act. This Act criminalises torture and puts in place several measures to ensure that torture perpetrators are identified, prosecuted and punished. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the challenges that are likely to be grappled with during the implementation of the Act and suggest ways through which they could be overcome.
Chemical–physical and in vivo evaluations of a self-assembling amphiphilic peptide as an injectable hydrogel scaffold for biomedical applications
Authors: Solaro Roberto , Alderighi Michele , Barsotti Maria C , Battisti Antonella , Cifelli Mario , Losi Paola , Di Stefano Rossella , Ghezzi Lisa , Tiné Maria R
Published: November 2012

The self-aggregation and gelation of an amphiphilic peptide (C17H35CONH–A4G3ERGD, peptide amphiphile) were studied by light scattering, viscometry, nuclear magnetic resonance diffusometry, and atomic force microscopy. The peptide amphiphile critical aggregation concentration was evaluated to be 16 and 60 µM by light scattering and viscometry, respectively. The observed difference was attributed to the larger sensitivity of the latter technique to the presence of long fibrils. The addition of one equivalent or more of divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) to peptide amphiphile formed dense incoherent hydrogels. Based on the atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation data, both the hydrogel morphology and stiffness were independent of the cation type and peptide amphiphile concentration. However, gel stiffness increased on increasing Ca2+/peptide amphiphile molar ratio while a parallel decrease in the apparent water diffusion rate was observed by nuclear magnetic resonance diffusometry. The dispersions of endothelial progenitor cells in the peptide amphiphile hydrogels were evaluated in vivo on a rat tissue hypoxia model. Significant capillary formation at the injection site was observed by tissue appearance and histological examination, which indicated endothelial progenitor cell/peptide amphiphile hydrogel-enhanced angiogenesis in ischemic tissue.