bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Statistical Analysis of Strain Images Estimated from Overlapped and Filtered Echo Signals
Authors: Bilgen Mehmet , Insana Michael F. , Hall Timothy J. , Chaturvedi Pawan
Published: March 2013

The visibility of soft-tissue lesions in strain imaging is currently limited by strain noise from waveform decorrelation. Attempts to balance noise reduction with concerns for contrast and spatial resolution rely on accurate models of time delay covariance for guidance. The most useful analytical models describe the covariance of time-varying time delay estimates in terms of experimental parameters and tissue deformation patterns. Assuming compressed tissue deforms linearly along the axis of the sound beam, we derived a delay covariance expression for echo data with Gaussian spectra that were filtered by a Gaussian window function before correlation. The Gaussian filter reduced the number of assumptions needed to obtain closed-form expressions and minimized the effects of strain within the correlation window. However, strain images are often made using uniformly weighted (sinc filtered) window functions. This paper compares time delay covariances for these two window functions, and describes an equivalent window duration at which delay variances for Gaussian and uniform windows are equal. At the equivalent window length, the analysis can be used to predict strain errors for either window function. Finally, this paper uses the delay covariance data to show how strain noise and image sharpness vary depending on the amount of overlap between correlation windows. For an applied strain less than 5%, an overlap near 50% offers an adequate compromise. These results can guide the selection of experimental parameters for improving the visibility of lesions in strain images.
Attenuation and Backscatter Estimation Using Video Signal Analysis Applied to B-Mode Images
Authors: Knipp B.S. , Zagzebski J.A. , Wilson T.A. , Dong F. , Madsen E.L.
Published: March 2013

Most methods for in vivo quantitation of ultrasound attenuation and backscatter are not available clinically because they rely upon acquiring and analyzing radio frequency (rf) echo signals. This paper describes a technique to estimate ultrasound attenuation and backscatter from B-mode image data. The video signal analysis (VSA) technique utilizes images of a reference phantom, taken using the same instrument settings used to record images from the patient or sample, to account for effects of the transducer beam, system gain and signal processing on image data. A ‘gray-scale look-up table’ is derived to convert image pixel value data within a region of interest to echo signal amplitudes relative to echo signals from the same depth in the reference phantom. These relative echo levels enable estimates of attenuation and backscatter in the region of interest. VSA was used to quantify acoustic properties of test phantoms using 3 different clinical scanners and various transducers. The level of agreement between results obtained with different ultrasound imaging systems was very good. VSA attenuation and backscatter levels also compare favorably with attenuation coefficients and backscatter coefficients obtained using rf analysis.
Multiple-Transducer Scheme for Scanning Tomographic Acoustic Microscopy Using Transverse Waves
Authors: Ko Dae-Sik
Published: March 2013

We propose a new type of multiple-transducer scheme with functions of multiple-angle and multiple-frequency tomography for scanning tomographic acoustic microscopy (STAM) using transverse waves. We review the data acquisition system and mode conversion of the acoustic waves for STAM and the multiple-angle and multiple-frequency tomography. Our multiple-transducer scheme has three insonification angles and three resonance frequencies in order to operate, in the transverse wave mode, multiple-angle and multiple frequency tomography for STAM. In order to evaluate the performance of our transducer scheme, we have simulated tomographic reconstruction with a back-and-forth propagation algorithm. Simulation results show that our multiple-transducer scheme is capable of obtaining good resolution with transverse wave mode and multiple-frequency tomography. We also show that our multiple-transducer scheme is an efficient rotation tool for a number of projections.
Multi-Angle Compound Imaging
Authors: Jespersen Søren K. , Wilhjelm Jens E. , Sillesen Henrik
Published: March 2013

This paper reports on a scanning technique, denoted multi-angle compound imaging (MACI), using spatial compounding. The MACI method also contains elements of frequency compounding, as the transmit frequency is lowered for the highest beam angles in order to reduce grating lobes. Compared to conventional B-mode imaging MACI offers better defined tissue boundaries and lower variance of the speckle pattern, resulting in an image with reduced random variations. Design and implementation of a compound imaging system is described, images of rubber tubes and porcine aorta are shown and effects on visualization are discussed. The speckle reduction is analyzed numerically and the results are found to be in excellent agreement with existing theory. An investigation of detectability of low-contrast lesions shows significant improvements compared to conventional imaging. Finally, possibilities for improving diagnosis of atherosclerotic diseases using MACI are discussed.
High-Sensitivity Fiber-Optic Ultrasound Sensors for Medical Imaging Applications
Authors: Wen H. , Wiesler D.G. , Tveten A. , Danver B. , Dandridge A.
Published: March 2013

This paper presents several designs of high-sensitivity, compact fiber-optic ultrasound sensors that may be used for medical imaging applications. These sensors translate ultrasonic pulses into strains in single-mode optical fibers, which are measured with fiber-based laser interferometers at high precision. The sensors are simpler and less expensive to make than piezoelectric sensors, and are not susceptible to electromagnetic interference. It is possible to make focal sensors with these designs, and several schemes are discussed. Because of the minimum bending radius of optical fibers, the designs are suitable for single element sensors rather than for arrays.
Adaptive Texture Feature Extraction with Application to Ultrasonic Image Analysis
Authors: Huisman H.J. , Thijssen J.M.
Published: March 2013

Computer texture analysis methods use texture features that are traditionally chosen from a large set of fixed features known in literature. These fixed features are often not specifically designed to the problem at hand, and as a result they may have low discriminative power, and/or may be correlated. Increasing the number of selected fixed features is statistically not a good solution in limited data environments such as medical imaging. For that reason, we developed an adaptive texture feature extraction method (ATFE) that extracts a small number of features that are tuned to the problem at hand. By using a feed-forward neural network, we ensure that even nonlinear relations are captured from the data. Using extensive, repeated synthetic ultrasonic images, we compared the performance of ATFE with the optimal feature set. We show that the ATFE method is capable of robust operation on small data sets with a performance close to that of the optimal feature set. Another experiment confirms that our ATFE is capable of capturing nonlinear relations from the dataset. We conclude that our method can improve performance in practical, limited dataset situations where an optimal fixed feature set can be hard to find.
Elastic Moduli of Breast and Prostate Tissues under Compression
Authors: Krouskop Thomas A. , Wheeler Thomas M. , Kallel Faouzi , Garra Brian S. , Hall Timothy
Published: March 2013

To evaluate the dynamic range of tissue imaged by elastography, the mechanical behavior of breast and prostate tissue samples subject to compression loading has been investigated. A model for the loading was validated and used to guide the experimental design for data collection. The model allowed the use of small samples that could be considered homogeneous; this assumption was confirmed by histological analysis. The samples were tested at three strain rates to evaluate the viscoelastic nature of the material and determine the validity of modeling the tissue as an elastic material for the strain rates of interest. For loading frequencies above 1 Hz, the storage modulus accounted for over 93 percent of the complex modulus. The data show that breast fat tissue has a constant modulus over the strain range tested while the other tissues have a modulus that is dependent on the strain level. The fibrous tissue samples from the breast were found to be 1 to 2 orders of magnitude stiffer than fat tissue. Normal glandular breast tissue was found to have an elastic modulus similar to that of fat at low strain levels, but the modulus of the glandular tissue increased by an order of magnitude above fat at high strain levels. Carcinomas from the breast were stiffer than the other tissues at the higher strain level; intraductal in situ carcinomas were like fat at the low strain level and much stiffer than glandular tissue at the high strain level. Infiltrating ductal carcinomas were much stiffer than any of the other breast tissues. Normal prostate tissue has a modulus that is lower than the modulus of the prostate cancers tested. Tissue from prostate with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) had modulus values significantly lower than normal tissue. There was a constant but not significant difference in the modulus of tissues taken from the anterior and posterior portions of the gland.
Pulse Compression for Finite Amplitude Distortion Based Harmonic Imaging Using Coded Waveforms
Authors: Li Pai-Chi
Published: March 2013

Finite amplitude distortion based harmonic imaging has been used to reduce the image quality degradation produced by tissue inhomogeneities. Such harmonic signals are significantly lower than the linear components and are possibly too low compared to the dynamic range of the imaging system. To improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) without exceeding regulatory limits, coded excitation is explored. In addition, pulse compression schemes suitable for finite amplitude distortion based harmonic imaging are also developed. Note that due to the differences in harmonic generation, these compression schemes are different from those proposed for harmonic imaging using contrast agents. In this paper, simulation examples of SNR improvements by up to 8.2dB are shown and the efficacy of the compression schemes is studied. Potential sources of performance degradation are also discussed.
Strain Imaging with a Deformable Mesh
Authors: Zhu Yanning , Chaturvedi Pawan , Insana Michael F.
Published: March 2013

Ultrasonic strain imaging has drawn much attention recently because of its ability to noninvasively provide information on spatial variation of the elastic properties of soft tissues. Traditionally, local strain is estimated by scaling and cross correlating pre-and postcompression ultrasound echo fields. However, when the motion field generated by compression is more complex, scaling and cross correlation can no longer provide precise displacement estimates because of signal decorrelation. We introduce a new algorithm based on the deformable mesh method. This algorithm can accommodate more general forms of motion, namely, the motion that can be described by bilinear transformations. We applied the new algorithm to three sets of data in order to evaluate its performance. In the first set of data, primitive motions such as shearing and rotation are simulated. The second set of data is collected by compressing a tissue-mimicking phantom with three hard inclusions. The third experiment involves an ex vivo pig kidney embedded in a block of gelatin. The results from all three experiments show improvements with the new algorithm over other methods.
Effects of Transmit Focusing on Finite Amplitude Distortion Based Second Harmonic Generation
Authors: Li Pai-Chi , Shen Che-Chou
Published: March 2013

Generation of the second harmonic signal was studied for finite amplitude distortion based harmonic imaging. Acoustic field amplitudes along the range axis of a fixed focus transducer were measured using a PVDF needle hydrophone. Results indicated that on-axis amplitudes strongly depended on the f-number at both the fundamental and the second harmonic frequencies. Differences of the on-axis amplitudes between the two frequencies were also investigated. To explore the possibility of increasing harmonic generation by extending the depth of focus, a two-focus transducer was employed. Hydrophone measurements, pulse-echo imaging and simulations were performed. Although the increase in harmonic generation depended on specific imaging parameters, the effectiveness of improving the harmonic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by increasing the depth of field was clearly demonstrated. Degradation in contrast resolution associated with the two-focus transducer was also evaluated. It was found that the contrast resolution was still significantly better than that of the fundamental image at the same frequency. Results of the study using the two-focus transducers can be generalized to imaging systems with full dynamic transmit focusing capabilities. In other words, it is expected that dynamic transmit focusing can improve the SNR of finite amplitude distortion based second harmonic imaging while improving the contrast resolution over fundamental imaging.
Leveraging microblogging big data with a modified density-based clustering approach for event awareness and topic ranking
Authors: Lee Chung-Hong , Chien Tzan-Feng
Published: March 2013

Although diverse groups argue about the potential and true value benefits from social-media big data, there is no doubt that the era of big data exploitation has begun, driving the development of novel data-centric applications. Big data is notable not only because of its size, but also because of the complexity caused by its relationality to other data. In the past, owing to the limited possibilities of accessing big data, few data sources were available to allow researchers to develop advanced data-driven applications, such as monitoring of emerging real-world events. In fact, social media is greatly impacting the growth of big data; and big data is providing enterprises with the data to help them understand how to better detect marketing demands. Microblogging is a social network service capable of aggregating messages to explore facts and unknown knowledge. Nowadays, people often attempt to search for trending news and hot topics in real time from microblogging messages to satisfy their information needs. Under such a circumstance, a real demand is to find a way to allow users to organize a large number of microblogging messages into understandable events. In this work, we attempt to tackle such challenges by developing an online text-stream clustering approach using a modified density-based clustering model with collected microblogging big data. The system kernel combines three technical components, including a dynamic term weighting scheme, a neighbourhood generation algorithm and an online density-based clustering technique. After acquiring detected event topics by the system, our system provides functions for recommending top-priority event information to assist people to effectively organize emerging event data through the developed topic ranking algorithm.
Voting differently across electoral arenas: Empirical implications from a decentralized democracy
Authors: Riera Pedro
Published: March 2013

This article assesses the validity of several alternative hypotheses explaining dual voting across electoral arenas in a decentralized polity. Based on data from three different electoral cycles in Catalonia, I find evidence that the evaluation of the regional candidates of the two main parties has the largest, most consistent impact on vote transfers between levels of government. Results also emphasize, although to a lesser extent, the role played by retrospective voting at the regional level and the impacts that government performance and approval levels regarding national leaders have on the likelihood of casting a dual vote. Altogether, these results not only speak to the dual-voting literature, but also to broader research on the consequences of the de-alignment of the electorate in advanced industrial democracies.
New directions in economic development: Localist policy discourses and the Localism Act
Authors: Bentley Gill , Pugalis Lee
Published: March 2013

Since entering office in 2010, a distinct grammar of localism has pervaded the UK Coalition Government’s philosophical outlook inflecting localist policy discourses and practice. This article, written in June 2012, considers the implications of this new grammar for the scope, organisation and mobilisation of economic development interventions, through a focus on the 2011 Localism Act, which applies to England and Wales. Interpreting these changes through a localist conceptual prism, which helps to refract varieties of localism, it raises some serious concerns regarding localism in action through exposing the controlling tendencies of central government. Analysis is also directed towards the uneasy relationship between centralised powers, conditional decentralisation and fragmented localism. Nevertheless, emergent practice serves to demonstrate how ‘constrained freedoms’ can be negotiated to undertake innovative actions. It concludes by suggesting some foundational elements that would support the notion of ‘empowered localities’ that may secure the government’s imperative to enable private sector-led growth.
Histological Characterization of Dilated Cardiomyopathy in the Juvenile Toy Manchester Terrier
Authors: Legge C. H. , López A. , Hanna P. , Côté E. , Hare E. , Martinson S. A.
Published: March 2013

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), the most common form of cardiomyopathy in the dog, most often occurs in certain breeds. The objective of this study was to describe a rapidly progressive form of DCM that has been recently recognized in juvenile Toy Manchester Terrier dogs (TMTs). The clinical history and gross findings were reviewed in a group of 14 TMTs, and histologic sections of heart were examined in 12 of those 14 TMTs with DCM. Histochemical and histomorphometric analyses were employed to compare the heart in TMTs affected by DCM with that of control dogs. TMTs ranged in age from 10 to 58.3 weeks, with males and females being equally affected. Affected TMT hearts contained foci of degeneration and loss of myofibers with fibrosis and mild lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates. Less prominent features included foci of acute myofiber degeneration and necrosis with or without intralesional mineralization and mild to moderate suppurative and lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates. Morphometric quantification demonstrated that the right ventricle was more severely affected ( P ≤ .05) than the left ventricle with variable involvement of the interventricular septum. Immunohistochemistry for canine parvovirus was negative in all heart samples. However, the absence of parvoviral antigen does not rule out a possible viral or autoimmune cause. The presence of these myocardial lesions among closely related dogs suggests a genetic contribution to this disease process in the TMT.
Pathology of Tumors in Fish Associated With Retroviruses
Authors: Coffee L. L. , Casey J. W. , Bowser P. R.
Published: March 2013

Thirteen proliferative diseases in fish have been associated in the literature with 1 or more retroviruses. Typically, these occur as seasonal epizootics affecting farmed and wild fish, and most lesions resolve spontaneously. Spontaneous resolution and lifelong resistance to reinfection are 2 features of some piscine retrovirus–induced tumors that have stimulated research interest in this field. The purpose of this review is to present the reader with the epidemiological and morphological features of proliferative diseases in fish that have been associated with retroviruses by 1 or more of the following methods: detection of C-type retrovirus-like particles or reverse transcriptase activity in tumor tissues; successful tumor transmission trials using well-characterized, tumor-derived, cell-free inocula; or molecular characterization of the virus from spontaneous and experimentally induced tumors. Two of the diseases included in this review, European smelt spawning papillomatosis and bicolor damselfish neurofibromatosis, at one time were attributed to a retroviral etiology, but both are now believed to involve additional viral agents based on more recent investigations. We include the latter 2 entities to update the reader about these developments.
Alternatives in Technology
Authors: Schumacher E. F.
Published: March 2013

The universal dream of a coming Age of Affluence, modern style, has been shattered. Modern expansionism is coming to its predictable and inevitable end. The now apparent failure of its techno-economic system stems directly from a systematic neglect of the truism that Man's greatest resource is man, his initiative, intelligence and creativity. Modern economic thinking takes goods as its point of departure, instead of people. The results are the destruction of the wholesomeness of man's work, deleterious pollution of his natural environment and increasingly threatening resource depletion.

Solutions to these problems cannot be found without a fundamental reorientation of technology, so as to make possible the development of a new life-style which means new Patterns of production, new patterns of consumption and new patterns of the geographical distribution of the population (e.g. urbanization).

Systematic work in this direction has been carried on by the Intermediate Technology development Group in London since 1965. This work shows beyond reasonable doubt that technological alternatives are possible and can be thoroughly economic. The criteria or guidelines of the Group's work are: smallness, simplicity, capital-cheapness and nonviolence, to afford alternatives to current technological trends which favour giantism, complexity, high capital intensity and violence.

As the ‘culture of affluence’ is proving a ruinous aberration, we might do worse than study the possibilities of a ‘culture of poverty’ which would make health, beauty and permanence its central aspirations.
Zimbabwe's Liberation through Self-Reliance
Authors: Shamuyarira Nathan M.
Published: March 2013

In this era of nuclear stalemate, guerrilla warfare has assumed great importance as a tool for settling national and international disputes and for changing governmental systems. In the South African sub-continent no less than eight liberation movements have organized guerrilla activity amongst a growing section of the 30 million inhabitants against the four million white settlers dominating the present political and economic system.
What's Wrong with Henry Kissinger's Foreign Policy
Authors: Falk Richard A.
Published: March 2013

A Hero of Our Time, gentlemen, is indeed a portrait, but not of a single individual; it is a portrait composed of all the vices of our generation in the fullness of their development.

Mihail Lermontov, ‘The Author's Introduction’, A Hero of Our Time (1958).

This article analyzes the reasons why Henry Kissinger has exercised such an extraordinary influence upon all sectors of world politics. It argues that Mr. Kissinger's role has not been beneficial because it has reflected his indifference to issues of morality and justice and his insensitivity to the obsolescence of the state system. To overcome Kissingerism is absolutely necessary for the achievement of political independence in the Third World and the sort of global reform which will be needed for the construction of a just and peaceful world order capable of meeting present challenges.
World Energy Dynamics: 1969–1989
Authors: Goldstein Joshua
Published: March 2013

‘Integrative’ computer modeling, a method for analyzing policy implications, was used to project the international energy situation until 1989. The increasing dependence of the industrialized countries on Third World energy resources indicated a vulnerability to supply interuptions in those countries. Policy changes aimed at reducing this vulnerability were modeled. Alternatives for limiting energy consumption in industrialized countries proved more effective than alternatives for increasing the production of energy in those countries. The analysis centered on North America as the industrialized region which is most rapidly becoming dependent on Third World resources.
Measuring World Development
Authors: Galtung J. , Guha A. , Wirak A. , Sjlie S. , Cifuentes M. , Goldstein H.
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this article is to discuss how the old and rather technocratic idea of expressing the state of affairs in a society in numbers, by means of social indicatros, can be given a more radical content. One idea is to measure not only how good a society is to its own citizens, but also how good or bad it is to the rest of the world. A second idea is to avoid abstractions like GNP and averages and try to develop measures that reflect the state of affairs at the level of human beings. A third idea is to find ways of developing indicators that would give less power to experts and more to people themselves. The article starts by giving the outline of a basic discussion on indicators, proceeds with a discussion of the basic values guiding the selection of indicators and ends with a presentation of the indicators.
The Limits of World Order
Authors: Watson Richard A.
Published: March 2013

The level of energy use determines the technological level, which in turn determines what can be used as resources. Technology also determines the scope of political organization. Attempts to form a world-government fail because high-energy technology today can provide only limited goods for the world's people. The nation-state is appropriate for competing at this stage; for it provides to some the means to obtain more than their share in a world where equitable distribution would mean poverty for all. World peace would result from reduction to a low-energy technology supporting a city-state world in which people would not have the means to cause worldwide disruption, or through advancement to an unlimited-energy technology supporting a world-state in which abundance could be had for all.
Economics, Welfare, and Alternative View of Man
Authors: Agosin Manuel R.
Published: March 2013

This paper analyses the basic assumptions regarding the nature of man underlying economic theory and welfare economics, and examines the philosophical underpinnings of economic theory as well as its value judgements. It goes on to show that the basic problems faced by industrial society - namely, maldistribution of income, pollution and alienation - cannot be overcome unless the notion of man underlying speculations about economic problems and economic welfare is modified. It reviews recent contributions to a re-visioning of man in his relationship to economic activity with a view to piecing together different elements which may be useful in providing a framework for a new integrated approach to man's economic problems.
Detente: A Third World Perspective
Authors: El-Ayouty Yassin
Published: March 2013

The author examines detente in the context of the relationship between the two superpowers, the relationships between them and their bloc partners respectively, their relationships with the Third World, and the cause of international peace and security, equity and justice. He finds that detente is either ambiguous, irrelevant, dysfunctional, or positively dangerous, and either ignores or thwarts the interests and aspirations of the Third World countries, which cannot therefore view it as anything more than a diplomatic and psychological ploy for the continued denial of equality, autonomy and economic development to them.
Autonomy, Equality, Participation — with Qualifications
Authors: Bahm Archie J.
Published: March 2013

The author, fearing that the three ideals of autonomy, equality, and participation may be interpreted too simply, proposes refinements in their meanings. In his view, autonomy in the complex global existence can seldom exist in a pure form but is involved in interdependence, including both dependence and independence (autonomy). He therefore proposes idealizing improved interdependence as itself a primary value. Similarly, he argues for equality to be understood in ways that respect individuals' uniquenesses and differences from others as well as their samenesses with others. As for participation by citizens in higher-level decision-making processes, it becomes increasingly impractical as populations increase and as problems become increasingly so intricate that specialized knowledge is needed for intelligent decisions. The ideals should accordingly recognize both the increasing limitations on the possibilities and the need for more expert participation.
Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Third World
Authors: Sweet William
Published: March 2013

The effectiveness of the Non-Proliferation Treaty has remained limited to the major alliance systems of the two superpowers, and its future now depends on the reconciliation of sharply differing views concerning why and how the spread of nuclear weapons should be prevented. India has always been the most articulate critic of the Treaty, and the position adopted by New Delhi ever since the test of a peaceful nuclear explosive in May 1974 simultaneously highlights the weaknesses in the line traditionally taken on proliferation by the superpowers, and suggests how the Treaty could be revised to meet Third World demands. India might now take an initiative aiming at revision of the Non-Proliferation Treaty according to a scheme in which the so-called ‘near-nuclear-weapon states’ would acquire, in the act of ratifying the Treaty, the right to participate in an international agency that would be responsible for the development and use of peaceful nuclear explosives.
Cultural Action and Rural Development
Authors: Benito Carlos A.
Published: March 2013

Widespread rural poverty and a tendency of food production to stagnate are phenomena common to many Third World countries. The meager results of the development efforts of the last quarter century demand the search for new alternatives'. This essay addresses these problems under the premises of a holistic social philosophy which is found useful for understanding the causes of underdevelopment which are not regarded as a heritage of ‘traditions’ but of the interplay between them and a contemporaneous world process of production, and for finding a path of liberating development. It briefly investigates the nature and dynamic of a socioeconomic process based on unequal development between nations, between agricultural and industrial sectors, and between the peasantry and other agrarian groups. It also investigates the performance of land reforms and modernization projects as a means to overcome the conflicts that this process generates in rural areas. Basing itself on a social philosophy affirming the integral unfolding of each real man as the ultimate objective of social life, it proposes a rural way of development, geared to the construction of a socially and sectorally articulated economy. The key elements in this are intermediate organizations, intermediate technologies, integral consciousness, and, finally, cultural action (modernization with conscientization), because a change at the level of consciousness is necessary to subordinate technical and organizational changes to the needs of humankind.
Institutionalization of Nonviolence
Authors: Woodward Beverly
Published: March 2013

Nonviolent action is best known as a kind of protest tactic used where neither the vote nor the gun seems to offer effective methods of achieving the desired social change. Those using this tactic may or may not have a general commitment to nonviolence. The author argues that the objectives of nonviolent action must become broader and more ambitious and that through a variety of coordinated efforts we should seek to ‘institutionalize nonviolence’ and to generalize nonviolent behaviors throughout society. Such an effort involves the transformation of all institutions implicated in the practice of direct or structural violence. The role of the State in the existing global violence system is especially criticized. The author outlines eight important components in the process she has labelled the ‘institutionalization of nonviolence’.
Value Relativism, Authoritarian Model, and World Order
Authors: Kreml William P.
Published: March 2013

This paper attempts to bring the consideration of some new ideas and new research in the area of psychology and politics into a perspective helpful in our quest for a better world order. The notion of value relativism, for which it pleads, is relatively new within intellectual history, and the notion of value relativism based upon differentiated human personalities is much newer still. The idea of moving beyond a passive tolerance of different peoples toward an active consideration of the role of differentiated contribution, a kind of psychological interfunctionality within the organic whole of man, should now be able to make a contribution to world order. Just as the element of human psychology has become increasingly relevant to so many intellectual considerations, so too in the quest for a more justly ordered world there is need to explore the psychological dimension in the context of the principal balances of human society. The principles of value relativism, along with an understanding of the full range of the authoritarian model, should be helpful in this quest.
Armaments Dynamic and Military Research and Development
Authors: Thee Marek
Published: March 2013

The paper examines the present escalation of armaments, both conventional and nuclear, the mind-boggling stockpiles (with the capacity to destroy all life on earth many times over), the incredible speed of replacement of old and innovation and deployment of ever newer, ever more sophisticated and ever more lethal weapon system in their dynamic development. It identifies four factors of the armaments dynamic and, after examining each of them, comes to the conclusion that the most important and most dangerous is the military R&D. It has engulfed all scientific disciplines - natural, social and behavioural - and penetrated into industry, laboratories, universities, special research institutes and centres of learning. Military R&D not only absorbs the best scientific and technological talent, but also distorts priorities in scientific research itself. Having forged a symbiotic relationship with the structures of economy, politics and state bureaucracy, it has acquired an autonomous and self-propelling existence, making of the armaments race an exponential curve - rapid and steep and unending - and defying any kind of social control. Military R&D has also become an instrument of diplomacy; it blocks all attempts at arms limitation, even on a very modest scale, by vitiating the very negotiating process: efforts to achieve quantitative limitations are offset by qualitative compensations, and arms control negotiation is turned into a collaborative exercise in armaments escalation. Above all, military R&D gobbles up the resources that could well go to relieving mass poverty and providing the basic necessities of life to people around the world. The paper ends by suggesting a series of action to undermine, if not dismantle, the formidable structure so as to open the way to disarmament.
Global Apartheid
Authors: Köhler Gernot
Published: March 2013

The concept of apartheid has significance far beyond the situation in South Africa which coined the term. Indeed, the concept can be generalized to apply to the present world situation. It provides both a better understanding of the present human condition and more effective guidelines for action to change it. The processes of interdependence, interpenetration and intercommunication in the present era have made the entire humanity into one global society. The present nation-state system, which obscures the appearance of this society, fails miserably in responding to the concerns and needs of the global community. The concept of global apartheid provides a more realistic and comprehensive view of the world and suggests appropriate ways of so acting as to make a beginning toward realizing a just, participatory, peaceful and humane global society.
Towards a New International Technological Order
Authors: Galtung Johan
Published: March 2013

The main thesis of the paper is that technology is not merely a mode of production and therefore neutral; it carries within it a code of structures - economic, social, cultural, and also cognitive. The economic code that inheres in Western Technology demands that industries be capital-intensive, research-intensive, organization-intensive and labour-extensive. On the social plane, the code creates a ‘centre’ and a ‘periphery’, thus perpetuating a structure of inequality. In the cultural arena, it sees the West as entrusted by destiny with the mission of casting the rest of the world in its own mould. In the cognitive field, it sees man as the master of nature, the vertical and individualistic relations between human beings as the normal and natural, and history as a linear movement of progress. The transfer of Western technology is thus a structural-cultural invasion, which is not clearly seen as such parly because it is not accompanied by the West's physical presence (as in the days of colonialism), and partly because the fragmentation inherent in Western technology fragments the perception of the total picture. For techniques that create different structures to come into their own, a very clear perception of the interlocking of technology and structures is needed. Also needed is the political will to use alternative technologies as an instrument to bring about a structural change.
Science and Technology in a New Development Strategy
Authors: Wignaraja Ponna
Published: March 2013

This paper examines the conventional top-down framework of development, with its dependence on transfer of external capital and technology, and then attempts to formulate an alternative perspective primarily in terms of human development, participation and self-reliance. It identifies some issues relevant to technology development and choices within the new development perspective both in ‘developed’ and in ‘developing’ countries. It argues that techno-economic notions of development and marginal reforms contribute neither to a meaningful social change nor to development in wider human terms; a new man-nature-technology mix is required. Development in human terms requires new processes and a non-alienating technology, based primarily on the existence of more than one stock of knowledge and technology yet to be created. It raises several fundamental questions to which developmentalists and technologists alike must address themselves, and identifies some possible interventions based on actual experience for utilizing the full potential for scientific enquiry, and the systematic application of the results of such enquiry, to the task of transforming society in economic as well as human terms and enhancing the dignity and creativity of people everywhere. The paper thus attempts to respond to the basic question, with the new understanding of reality: Cannot ‘another development’ in technology help to reverse the zero-sum game, which the development process has become, and transform it into a positive-sum game?
Science and Technology: The African Search for a Third Way to Development
Authors: Forje John W.
Published: March 2013

Development strategies so far followed in the Third World are now being increasingly questioned because they have not led to meeting basic human needs and also because they promote Third World dependence on the developed nations. Science and technology of the Western kind only perpetuates an already deteriorating situation in Africa. Although no nation can develop in isolation, African countries must initiate, control and direct their own pattern of development. Peaceful co-existence and progress for all mankind can only be a reality if the North and the South embark on a harmonious and simultaneous process of reshaping the existing international order, including the technological order.
The New International Economic Order and the Basic Needs Approach
Authors: Galtung Johan
Published: March 2013

The article explores, without claiming to do so in depth, the important political conflict that is shaping up between two ‘Grand Designs’ in development theory and practice: the New International Economic Order (NIEO) and the Basic Needs (BN) approach, each of which has to be studied in relation to the other. It analyses the two aspects of the debate - the issues and the parties - which are common to all conflict situations, and then goes on to examine if and how far the two theories are compatible, mutually contradictory, or conflicting.
New International Economic Order and Strategy for the Use of Financial Surpluses of Developing Countries
Authors: Amin Samir
Published: March 2013

In this brief paper, the author shows how the Third World demand for a New International Economic Order (in other words, a more sensible and equitable revision of the existing international division of labour) is consistent, not only within itself, but also with the principle professed by the West itself (viz. that the purpose of division of labour is to make the best use of factor endowments to ensure maximum profitability and common good). In rejecting the demand, the West is repudiating its own conventional wisdom. Aware that implicit in the demand for an international redivision of labour is a demand for international redivision of political power (to which the West, long used to a position of dominance, is not likely to agree willingly), the author suggests a strategy for the Third World to wage its struggle, severally and collectively, on both the political and the economic planes.
Economic Sanctions against the Union of South Africa: Policy Options
Authors: Baade Robert A. , Galloway Jonathan F.
Published: March 2013

In this paper the authors examine and assess the likely impact of the various types of economic sanctions against South Africa, and go on to identify the actors who can most effectively apply them. From an examination of statistics relating to general and specific trade, investment, they find that South Africa is trade and credit dependent and is thus vulnerable to selective sanctions which can disrupt the most dynamic and advanced sectors of the economy. They propose concrete steps to be taken by private sector interests such as IBM, Control Data, and Chase Manhattan Bank. They emphasize that foreign policy can be made from the bottom up by various trade unions, churches and action groups through their pressure on nongovernmental actors as well as on governments. They emphasize that sanctions be applied in such a way as to impact the White elite at the top but not the Black majority at the bottom. The use of a measured carrot-and-stick approach is likely to produce peaceful change and accommodation and prevent a relentless drift toward civil war.
South-West Asia: Precursor of Regional Power Grouping for the New International Economic Order?
Authors: Mansingh Surjit
Published: March 2013

The author takes note of some recent developments which are altering the distribution of power and resources in the world. Although cohesion and solidarity among the Third World countries, which are pressing for a new international economic order, is in a rudimentary state, the alliances of primary producers, such as OPEC, and regional groupings of small states, such as ASEAN, may be seen as signifying a pattern of localized power which may challenge the great-power dominance. The author is of the view that South-West Asia, (which means South Asia and West Asia together), for a number of factors which encourage cooperation and interdependence, has the potential for a strong regional power-grouping.
The Abundant Society and World Order: Alternative Life-Style in the US
Authors: Arnold Steven H. , Goulet Denis
Published: March 2013

Since the present world order has been shaped and is being sustained by nation-state actors to preserve their domestic social structures and ensure a high standard of life to their peoples, a structural transformation of this world order will inevitably involve a reordering of these societies and the adoption of a different life-style by their peoples. This paper examines the possibility of such a transition happening in the most important and the most powerful of the actors, the United States of America. It examines the various domestic movements that challenge, both on the plane of thinking and on the plane of action, the myths, the value systems and the meaning systems from which the organizing principles and sanctions of the social institutions are derived. It finds that although the various groups projecting, and also living, alternative life-styles project certain values that resonate well with the American public at large, other vested interests tap these values to buttress the status quo, thereby pushing these groups to the fringes of society. It comes to the conclusion that certain events in the international arena may exert greater influence on the US society than domestic groups which plead for alternative life-styles.
The Arms Race: A Perspective on Asia
Authors: Deshingkar G. D.
Published: March 2013

In Asia, the arms race began with the emergence of modern nation-states. Their new ruling elites adopted the concepts of ‘national security’ and ‘national interests’ and proceeded to build up their armed forces to meet mythical permanent threats, to the neglect of real threats to Asian societies such as hunger, natural calamities and cultural decay. With the great powers themselves engaged in a global arms race, taking advantage of the Asian elites' preoccupation with ‘national security’, the race in Asia has become a part of the global arms race with China as the latest - but somewhat restrained - entrant. The paper, however, notes a reverse historical trend under way: the European nation-state model being increasingly found unworkable in Asia (leading to a search for structures suitable to the complex Asian societies) and Asian states trying to opt out of global rivalries. This favourable trend, which promises to wind down the arms race in Asia, must, the paper concludes, be actively pushed forward by concerned citizens of Asian countries who form the Third System in Asia.