bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Low-temperature processing of sol-gel derived La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 buffer electrode and PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 films using CO2 laser annealing
Authors: Pan Han-Chang , Chou Chen-Chia , Tsai Hsien-Lung
Published: October 2003

Fabrication of well-crystallized sol-gel derived (La0.5Sr0.5)MnO3 (LSMO) buffer electrode layers and ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) thin films using a continuous wave CO2 laser annealing technique at a relatively low temperature was studied on a Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate. Resistivity, carrier concentration and Hall mobility of laser-annealed conducting oxide LSMO films were optimized by changing the radiation fluence and the substrate temperature. The minimum resistivity of 1.27×10−4 Ω cm was obtained for LSMO/Pt(Si) films prepared by laser irradiating at a fluence of 533 W/cm2 with a simultaneous substrate heating at a temperature of 300 °C. The laser-annealed PZT films coated on LSMO/Pt(Si) substrate shows enhancement in remanent polarization from 10.1 to 17.3 μC/cm2 as the PZT irradiated with a laser fluence of 433–483 W/cm2. The PZT(483 W/cm2)/LSMO(533 W/cm2)/Pt(Si) films showed a good fatigue resistance after 1×1010 switching cycles with a bipolar electric field of 300 kV/cm, implying the feasibility of fabricating reliable ferroelectric-oxide electrode heterostructures using CO2 laser annealing at temperatures lower than 400 °C.
Hydrogen adsorption of open-tipped insufficiently graphitized multiwalled carbon nanotubes
Authors: Gao Han , Wu Xiao Bin , Li Ji Tao , Wu Guo Tao , Lin Jian Yi , Wu Kai , Xu Dong Sheng
Published: October 2003

Open-tipped carbon nanotubes with a large amount of subnanopores and open ends on the tube wall were conveniently prepared by an improved anodized aluminum oxide template growth. The hydrogen storage was measured based on a volumetric method. Adsorptions of 6.46 and 1.12 wt % were achieved at 77 K and room temperature, respectively. Compared to hydrogen adsorption of other carbon materials, rough wall surface, opening tips, subnanopores, and opening ends on the wall were attributed to greatly enhanced hydrogen storage.
Tunable, narrow-band light emission from size-selected Si nanoparticles produced by pulsed-laser ablation
Authors: Orii Takaaki , Hirasawa Makoto , Seto Takafumi
Published: October 2003

We have demonstrated narrow-band visible light emission from size selected silicon nanoparticles (np-Si), with a wavelength controlled by size tuning. The np-Si were synthesized by pulsed-laser ablation of a silicon single-crystal target in high-purity He background gas. A postannealing process improved morphology and crystallinity. Using a differential mobility analyzer, nanoparticles were classified with a diameter tunable from 3 to 6 nm. Monodispersed np-Si deposited on substrate exhibited a sharp photoluminescence band. The energy of this band increased from 1.34 to 1.79 eV with decrease in particle size, and narrowed to approximately 0.22 eV full width at half maximum due to highly resolved size-selection and improvement in crystallinity. The results suggest that tunable, narrow-band light emitting np-Si produced by gas phase synthesis have good possibilities for application as optoelectronic devices.
Viewpoint: Evolution of cultivated chickpea: four bottlenecks limit diversity andconstrain adaptation
Authors: Abbo Shahal , Berger Jens , Turner Neil C.
Published: October 2003

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is characterised by a different adaptation profile from the other crops of West Asian origin such as pea, barley, and wheat. In this paper we suggest that a series of four evolutionary bottlenecks occur in chickpea: (1) the scarcity and limited distribution of the wild progenitor, C. reticulatum Ladiz., (2) the founder effect associated with domestication, (3) the shift, early in the crop's history, from winter to spring sowing, and the attendant change from using rainfall as it occurs to a reliance on residual soil moisture, and (4) the replacement of locally evolving landraces by elite cultivars produced by modern plant breeding. While two of the bottlenecks are common to all species, the limited distribution of the wild progenitor and shift of cropping from utilisation of current rainfall to stored soil moisture is unique to chickpea. In this paper we suggest that in order to widen the genetic base of cultivated chickpea it is imperative to reintroduce traits from across the primary gene pool. Moreover, a comparative physiological approach to the study of adaptation among the annual wild relatives of chickpea may reveal adaptive strategies within the genus currently obscured by monomorphic loci. The poor state of the world collection of annual wild Cicer species severely constrains the implementation of both these imperatives. We suggest that an extensive collection of annual wild Cicer species, based on ecogeographic principles to maximise the probability of collecting diverse ecotypes, should provide a better understanding of the biology and adaptation in this ancient crop and lead to improved productivity.
Review: Mechanisms of anoxia tolerance in plants. II. Energy requirements for maintenance and energy distribution to essential processes
Authors: Greenway Hank , Gibbs Jane
Published: October 2003

Anoxia in plant tissues results in an energy crisis (Gibbs and Greenway 2003). How anoxia-tolerant tissues cope with such an energy crisis is relevant not only to anoxia tolerance, but also to adverse conditions in air that cause an energy crisis.To survive an energy crisis, plant cells need to reduce their energy requirements for maintenance, and also direct the limited amount of energy produced during anaerobic catabolism to the energy-consuming processes that are critical to survival.We postulate that during anoxia, reductions in ion fluxes and protein turnover achieve economies in energy consumption. Processes receiving energy from the limited supply available under anoxia include synthesis of anaerobic proteins and energy-dependent substrate transport. Energy would also be required for maintenance of membrane integrity and for regulation of cytoplasmic pH (pHcyt). We suggest that a moderate decrease in the set point of pHcyt, from approximately 7.5 to approximately 7.0 is an acclimation to the energy crisis in anoxia-tolerant tissues. This decrease in the set point of pHcyt would favour metabolism of acclimative value, such as reduction in protein synthesis and stimulation of ethanolic fermentation. During anoxia lasting several days, a proportion of the scarce energy produced may need to be spent to mitigate the acidifying effect on pHcyt arising from fluxes of undissociated organic acids across the tonoplast as a consequence of high concentrations of organic acids in the vacuole. Increases in vacuolar pH (pHvac), with concomitant decreases in the vacuolar concentrations of undissociated acids, would mitigate such an 'acid load' on the cytoplasm. We present evidence that a preferential engagement of V-PPiases, over that of V-ATPases, may direct energy flow at the tonoplast to maintain pHcyt.We conclude that the likely causes of death under anoxia are firstly, a decrease in pHcyt below 7.0. Cytoplasmic acidosis occurs in several anoxia-intolerant tissues and may contribute to their death. Such adverse decreases in pHcyt can be mitigated by the biochemical pH stat. Secondly, deterioration in membrane selectivity culminating in loss of membrane integrity would be fatal. We suggest these two causes are not mutually exclusive but may act in concert.
Herpes simplex virus triggers activation of calcium-signaling pathways
Authors: Cheshenko Natalia , Del Rosario Brian , Woda Craig , Marcellino Daniel , Satlin Lisa M. , Herold Betsy C.
Published: October 2003

The cellular pathways required for herpes simplex virus (HSV) invasion have not been defined. To test the hypothesis that HSV entry triggers activation of Ca2+-signaling pathways, the effects on intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) after exposure of cells to HSV were examined. Exposure to virus results in a rapid and transient increase in [Ca2+]i. Pretreatment of cells with pharmacological agents that block release of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3)–sensitive endoplasmic reticulum stores abrogates the response. Moreover, treatment of cells with these pharmacological agents inhibits HSV infection and prevents focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation, which occurs within 5 min after viral infection. Viruses deleted in glycoprotein L or glycoprotein D, which bind but do not penetrate, fail to induce a [Ca2+]i response or trigger FAK phosphorylation. Together, these results support a model for HSV infection that requires activation of IP3-responsive Ca2+-signaling pathways and that is associated with FAK phosphorylation. Defining the pathway of viral invasion may lead to new targets for anti-viral therapy.
Impairment of LTD and cerebellar learning by Purkinje cell–specific ablation of cGMP-dependent protein kinase I
Authors: Feil Robert , Hartmann Jana , Luo Chongde , Wolfsgruber Wiebke , Schilling Karl , Feil Susanne , Barski Jaroslaw J. , Meyer Michael , Konnerth Arthur , De Zeeuw Chris I. , Hofmann Franz
Published: October 2003

The molecular basis for cerebellar plasticity and motor learning remains controversial. Cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) contain a high concentration of cGMP-dependent protein kinase type I (cGKI). To investigate the function of cGKI in long-term depression (LTD) and cerebellar learning, we have generated conditional knockout mice lacking cGKI selectively in PCs. These cGKI mutants had a normal cerebellar morphology and intact synaptic calcium signaling, but strongly reduced LTD. Interestingly, no defects in general behavior and motor performance could be detected in the LTD-deficient mice, but the mutants exhibited an impaired adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). These results indicate that cGKI in PCs is dispensable for general motor coordination, but that it is required for cerebellar LTD and specific forms of motor learning, namely the adaptation of the VOR.
Weakly sequential completeness of the projective tensor product {𝐿^{{}𝑝}[0,1]{̂⊗}𝑋,1<𝑝<∞}
Authors: Bu Qingying
Published: October 2003

D. R. Lewis (1977) proved that for a Banach space

X
X

and

1
>
p
>
∞

1 > p > \infty

,

L
p

[
0
,
1
]

⊗
^

X

L^p[0,1]\hat {\otimes }X

, the projective tensor product of

L
p

[
0
,
1
]

L^p[0,1]

and

X
X

, is weakly sequentially complete whenever

X
X

is weakly sequentially complete. In this note, we give a short proof of Lewis’s result, based on our sequential representation (2001) of

L
p

[
0
,
1
]

⊗
^

X

L^p[0,1]\hat {\otimes }X

.
Sequential product of quantum effects
Authors: Gheondea Aurelian , Gudder Stanley
Published: October 2003

Unsharp quantum measurements can be modelled by means of the class

E

(

H

)

\mathcal {E}(\mathcal {H})

of positive contractions on a Hilbert space

H

\mathcal {H}

, in brief, quantum effects. For

A
,
B
∈

E

(

H

)

A,B\in \mathcal {E}(\mathcal {H})

the operation of sequential product

A
∘
B
=

A

1

/

2

B

A

1

/

2

A\circ B=A^{1/2}BA^{1/2}

was proposed as a model for sequential quantum measurements. We continue these investigations on sequential product and answer positively the following question: the assumption

A
∘
B
≥
B

A\circ B\geq B

implies

A
B
=
B
A
=
B

AB=BA=B

. Then we propose a geometric approach of quantum effects and their sequential product by means of contractively contained Hilbert spaces and operator ranges. This framework leads us naturally to consider lattice properties of quantum effects, sums and intersections, and to prove that the sequential product is left distributive with respect to the intersection.
Analysis of the Dynein-Dynactin Interaction In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: King Stephen J. , Brown Christa L. , Maier Kerstin C. , Quintyne Nicholas J. , Schroer Trina A.
Published: October 2003

Cytoplasmic dynein and dynactin are megadalton-sized multisubunit molecules that function together as a cytoskeletal motor. In the present study, we explore the mechanism of dynein-dynactin binding in vitro and then extend our findings to an in vivo context. Solution binding assays were used to define binding domains in the dynein intermediate chain (IC) and dynactin p150Gluedsubunit. Transient overexpression of a series of fragments of the dynein IC was used to determine the importance of this subunit for dynein function in mammalian tissue culture cells. Our results suggest that a functional dynein-dynactin interaction is required for proper microtubule organization and for the transport and localization of centrosomal components and endomembrane compartments. The dynein IC fragments have different effects on endomembrane localization, suggesting that different endomembranes may bind dynein via distinct mechanisms.
Lipid-dependent Bidirectional Traffic of Apolipoprotein B in Polarized Enterocytes
Authors: Morel Etienne , Demignot Sylvie , Chateau Danielle , Chambaz Jean , Rousset Monique , Delers François
Published: October 2003

Enterocytes are highly polarized cells that transfer nutrients across the intestinal epithelium from the apical to the basolateral pole. Apolipoprotein B (apoB) is a secretory protein that plays a key role in the transepithelial transport of dietary fatty acids as triacylglycerol. The evaluation of the control of apoB traffic by lipids is therefore of particular interest. To get a dynamic insight into this process, we used the enterocytic Caco-2 cells cultured on microporous filters, a system in which the apical and basal compartments can be delimited. Combining biochemical and morphological approaches, our results showed that, besides their role in protection from degradation, lipids control the intracellular traffic of apoB in enterocytes. A supply of fatty acids and cholesterol is sufficient for the export of apoB from the endoplasmic reticulum and its post-Golgi traffic up to the apical brush-border domain, where it remains until an apical supply of complex lipid micelles signals its chase down to the basolateral secretory domain. This downward traffic of apoB involves a microtubule-dependent process. Our results demonstrate an enterocyte-specific bidirectional process for the lipid-dependent traffic of a secretory protein.
Dissection of theAscarisSperm Motility Machinery Identifies Key Proteins Involved in Major Sperm Protein-based Amoeboid Locomotion
Authors: Buttery Shawnna M. , Ekman Gail C. , Seavy Margaret , Stewart Murray , Roberts Thomas M.
Published: October 2003

Although Ascaris sperm motility closely resembles that seen in many other types of crawling cells, the lamellipodial dynamics that drive movement result from modulation of a cytoskeleton based on the major sperm protein (MSP) rather than actin. The dynamics of the Ascaris sperm cytoskeleton can be studied in a cell-free in vitro system based on the movement of plasma membrane vesicles by fibers constructed from bundles of MSP filaments. In addition to ATP, MSP, and a plasma membrane protein, reconstitution of MSP motility in this cell-free extract requires cytosolic proteins that orchestrate the site-specific assembly and bundling of MSP filaments that generates locomotion. Here, we identify a fraction of cytosol that is comprised of a small number of proteins but contains all of the soluble components required to assemble fibers. We have purified two of these proteins, designated MSP fiber proteins (MFPs) 1 and 2 and demonstrated by immunolabeling that both are located in the MSP cytoskeleton in cells and in fibers. These proteins had reciprocal effects on fiber assembly in vitro: MFP1 decreased the rate of fiber growth, whereas MFP2 increased the growth rate.
The Adhesin Hwp1 and the First Daughter Cell Localize to the a/a Portion of the Conjugation Bridge duringCandida albicansMating
Authors: Daniels Karla J. , Lockhart Shawn R. , Staab Janet F. , Sundstrom Paula , Soll David R.
Published: October 2003

The cell wall protein Hwp1 was originally demonstrated to be expressed exclusively in hyphae of Candida albicans and cross-linked to human epithelium by mammalian transglutaminase. Hwp1 is expressed on the walls of hyphae formed by a/α, a/a, and α/α cells. Hence, it is expressed on hyphae independently of mating type. However, Hwp1 is selectively expressed on the wall of conjugation tubes formed by a/a cells, but not α/α cells, in the mating process. This was demonstrated in all possible crosses between four unrelated natural a/a strains and four unrelated α/α strains. In zygotes, Hwp1 is restricted to that portion of the wall of the conjugation bridge contributed by the a/a parent cell. Hwp1 staining further revealed that the first daughter bud that emerges from the conjugation bridge does so from the a/a-contributed portion. Hwp1 expression and localization during the mating process is, therefore, mating type specific, opaque phase specific, and α-pheromone induced. These results indicate that the mating type-specific contributions to the conjugation bridge during the mating process in C. albicans are qualitatively and functionally distinct and that the a/a portion of the bridge, which selectively contains Hwp1, bears the first daughter cell in the mating process.
The Dynamic Association of RCC1 with Chromatin Is Modulated by Ran-dependent Nuclear Transport
Authors: Cushman Ian , Stenoien David , Moore Mary Shannon
Published: October 2003

Regulator of chromosome condensation (RCC1) binding to chromatin is highly dynamic, as determined by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis of GFP-RCC1 in stably transfected tsBN2 cells. Microinjection of wild-type or Q69L Ran markedly slowed the mobility of GFP-RCC1, whereas T24N Ran (defective in nucleotide loading) decreased it further still. We found significant alterations in the mobility of intranuclear GFP-RCC1 after treatment with agents that disrupt different Ran-dependent nuclear export pathways. Leptomycin B, which inhibits Crm1/RanGTP-dependent nuclear export, significantly increased the mobility of RCC1 as did high levels of actinomycin D (to inhibit RNA polymerases I, II, and III) or α-amanitin (to inhibit RNA polymerases II and III) as well as energy depletion. Inhibition of just mRNA transcription, however, had no affect on GFP-RCC1 mobility consistent with mRNA export being a Ran-independent process. In permeabilized cells, cytosol and GTP were required for the efficient release of GFP-RCC1 from chromatin. Recombinant Ran would not substitute for cytosol, and high levels of supplemental Ran inhibited the cytosol-stimulated release. Thus, RCC1 release from chromatin in vitro requires a factor(s) distinct from, or in addition to, Ran and seems linked in vivo to the availability of Ran-dependent transport cargo.
ARNO and ARF6 Regulate Axonal Elongation and Branching through Downstream Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 4-Phosphate 5-Kinase α
Authors: Hernández-Deviez Delia J. , Roth Michael G. , Casanova James E. , Wilson Jean M.
Published: October 2003

In the developing nervous system, controlled neurite extension and branching are critical for the establishment of connections between neurons and their targets. Although much is known about the regulation of axonal development, many of the molecular events that regulate axonal extension remain unknown. ADP-ribosylation factor nucleotide-binding site opener (ARNO) and ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF)6 have important roles in the regulation of the cytoskeleton as well as membrane trafficking. To investigate the role of these molecules in axonogenesis, we expressed ARNO and ARF6 in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Expression of catalytically inactive ARNO or dominant negative ARF6 resulted in enhanced axonal extension and branching and this effect was abrogated by coexpression of constitutively active ARF6. We sought to identify the downstream effectors of ARF6 during neurite extension by coexpressing phosphatidyl-inositol-4-phosphate 5-Kinase α [PI(4)P 5-Kinase α] with catalytically inactive ARNO and dominant negative ARF6. We found that PI(4)P 5-Kinase α plays a role in neurite extension and branching downstream of ARF6. Also, expression of inactive ARNO/ARF6 depleted the actin binding protein mammalian ena (Mena) from the growth cone leading edge, indicating that these effects on axonogenesis may be mediated by changes in cytoskeletal dynamics. These results suggest that ARNO and ARF6, through PI(4)P 5-Kinase α, regulate axonal elongation and branching during neuronal development.
Myosin-Va Binds to and Mechanochemically Couples Microtubules to Actin Filaments
Authors: Cao Tracy T. , Chang Wakam , Masters Sarah E. , Mooseker Mark S.
Published: October 2003

Myosin-Va was identified as a microtubule binding protein by cosedimentation analysis in the presence of microtubules. Native myosin-Va purified from chick brain, as well as the expressed globular tail domain of this myosin, but not head domain bound to microtubule-associated protein-free microtubules. Binding of myosin-Va to microtubules was saturable and of moderately high affinity (∼1:24 Myosin-Va:tubulin; Kd= 70 nM). Myosin-Va may bind to microtubules via its tail domain because microtubule-bound myosin-Va retained the ability to bind actin filaments resulting in the formation of cross-linked gels of microtubules and actin, as assessed by fluorescence and electron microscopy. In low Ca2+, ATP addition induced dissolution of these gels, but not release of myosin-Va from MTs. However, in 10 μM Ca2+, ATP addition resulted in the contraction of the gels into aster-like arrays. These results demonstrate that myosin-Va is a microtubule binding protein that cross-links and mechanochemically couples microtubules to actin filaments.
rsly1 Binding to Syntaxin 5 Is Required for Endoplasmic Reticulum-to-Golgi Transport but Does Not Promote SNARE Motif Accessibility
Authors: Williams Antionette L. , Ehm Sebastian , Jacobson Noëlle C. , Xu Dalu , Hay Jesse C.
Published: October 2003

Although some of the principles of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) function are well understood, remarkably little detail is known about sec1/munc18 (SM) protein function and its relationship to SNAREs. Popular models of SM protein function hold that these proteins promote or maintain an open and/or monomeric pool of syntaxin molecules available for SNARE complex formation. To address the functional relationship of the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi SM protein rsly1 and its SNARE binding partner syntaxin 5, we produced a conformation-specific monoclonal antibody that binds only the available, but not the cis-SNARE–complexed nor intramolecularly closed form of syntaxin 5. Immunostaining experiments demonstrated that syntaxin 5 SNARE motif availability is nonuniformly distributed and focally regulated. In vitro endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi transport assays revealed that rsly1 was acutely required for transport, and that binding to syntaxin 5 was absolutely required for its function. Finally, manipulation of rsly1–syntaxin 5 interactions in vivo revealed that they had remarkably little impact on the pool of available syntaxin 5 SNARE motif. Our results argue that although rsly1 does not seem to regulate the availability of syntaxin 5, its function is intimately associated with syntaxin binding, perhaps promoting a later step in SNARE complex formation or function.
Disease-related Myotubularins Function in Endocytic Traffic inCaenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Dang Hope , Li Zhai , Skolnik Edward Y. , Fares Hanna
Published: October 2003

MTM1, MTMR2, and SBF2 belong to a family of proteins called the myotubularins. X-linked myotubular myopathy, a severe congenital disorder characterized by hypotonia and generalized muscle weakness in newborn males, is caused by mutations in MTM1 ( Laporte et al., 1996 ). Charcot-Marie-Tooth types 4B1 and 4B2 are severe demyelinating neuropathies caused by mutations in MTMR2 ( Bolino et al., 2000 ) and SBF2/MTMR13 ( Senderek et al., 2003 ), respectively. Although several myotubularins are known to regulate phosphoinositide-phosphate levels in cells, little is known about the actual cellular process that is defective in patients with these diseases. Mutations in worm MTM-6 and MTM-9, myotubularins belonging to two subgroups, disorganize phosphoinositide 3-phosphate localization and block endocytosis in the coelomocytes of Caenorhabditis elegans. We demonstrate that MTM-6 and MTM-9 function as part of a complex to regulate an endocytic pathway that involves the Arf6 GTPase, and we define protein domains required for MTM-6 activity.
The Making of a Reformist General Secretary
Authors: Brown Archie
Published: October 2003

This chapter traces Gorbachev's progress from birth in March 1931 in a peasant family in southern Russia to his appointment as the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party with responsibility for agriculture in 1978. The impact of Stalin's terror on the older generation of Gorbachev's family and his childhood wartime experiences are noted, as is the importance of his study for five years in the Law Faculty of Moscow University. There he met his wife, Raisa, and their relationship was to remain exceptionally close, both intellectually and emotionally. Upon graduation, Gorbachev returned to his native Stavropol region and began a rapid ascent through the ranks of the Komsomol and Communist Party, becoming party chief of the whole region in 1970. As such, he had the opportunity to greet such senior party figures as Yury Andropov and Mikhail Suslov on their visits to this spa territory. Their good opinion of Gorbachev, as well as that of Fedor Kulakov, a former Stavropol party secretary who, by the 1970s, was a member of the Politburo, helped facilitate Gorbachev's move to Moscow when Kulakov, who had been the overseer of agriculture, died in 1978.
In the Portals of Power
Authors: Brown Archie
Published: October 2003

When Gorbachev moved to Moscow in November 1978, he became – at the age of 47 – the youngest member of the predominantly elderly Soviet top leadership team. He received rapid promotion, becoming a candidate member of the Politburo in 1979 and a full member in 1980, while retaining the Secretaryship of the Central Committee he had been accorded in 1978. It was only after the death of Leonid Brezhnev in November 1982, however, and the choice of Andropov to succeed him, that Gorbachev entered the inner circle of the leadership. He was unusual for a Politburo member in consulting widely among social scientists and in taking full advantage of Moscow's cultural life. Andropov, when he was dying, tried to elevate Gorbachev above Konstantin Chernenko and make him his heir apparent, but the old guard in the Soviet leadership prevented this. There was also an attempt to prevent Gorbachev becoming de facto ‘second secretary’ after Chernenko succeeded Andropov in March 1984, but Gorbachev eventually became the clear number two within the party hierarchy and the obvious, and in the end unanimous, choice to succeed Chernenko as General Secretary when the latter died in March 1985. Meantime, Gorbachev had begun to show that he was a potential leader of a different kind by impressing Margaret Thatcher and the British public on a visit to the UK in December 1984 and, in the same month, making a speech in Moscow which castigated Soviet stereotypical thinking and introduced some of the new ideas that were to become so important during his years as General Secretary.
Gorbachev and Economic Reform
Authors: Brown Archie
Published: October 2003

Gorbachev's two major failures were in economic reform and in resolution of the ‘national question’, although that statement has to be qualified by the observation that the problems involved were so intractable that the idea that a new leader could have come along and ‘solved’ them would be the height of naivety. The tension between two contradictory aims – improving the system and constructing the system on different principles – was especially acute in the economic sphere. It was in the attempted radical reconstruction of the economic system that Gorbachev encountered the most effective resistance on the part of agencies whose co‐operation was necessary both for the everyday running of the economy and the implementation of reform. As in other spheres of policy, Gorbachev's own views became more radical over time, and by 1990, partly under the influence of economist Nikolay Petrakov, he accepted that an essentially market economy (albeit one closer to a West European social democratic variant than to capitalism American‐style) was desirable. When a team of economists jointly appointed by Gorbachev and by Boris Yeltsin produced in 1990 a ‘500 Hundred Days Programme’ that would allegedly have created a market economy in the Soviet Union within that short time period, Gorbachev hesitated, at first supporting the proposals and then, partly under pressure from within the system, retreating from them. During 1991, Gorbachev attempted to keep in play several economic options; indecision and inconsistency in this area left the economy in limbo and weakened Gorbachev's authority.
Gorbachev and Foreign Policy
Authors: Brown Archie
Published: October 2003

Gorbachev was able to have a decisive impact on the development of ideas concerning the Soviet Union's relationship with the outside world and on the actual conduct of Soviet foreign policy by virtue of half a dozen key appointments. These were the elevation of Eduard Shevardnadze to the post of Foreign Minister, in succession to Andrey Gromyko, in the summer of 1985; the replacement of Boris Ponomarev as head of the International Department of the Central Committee by Anatoly Dobrynin in 1986; the promotion of Alexander Yakovlev to Politburo and Secretariat membership (with oversight of international affairs from the autumn of 1988); the replacement of Konstantin Rusakov by Vadim Medvedev as head of the Socialist Countries Department of the Central Committee in 1986; the appointment of Anatoly Chernyaev as Gorbachev's principal foreign policy aide in 1986; and the appointment of Georgy Shakhnazarov as another close aide two years later. These appointments both reflected and facilitated Gorbachev's adoption of new thinking in the foreign policy sphere with, for example, a concern for mutual security and an emphasis on interdependence taking the place of an antagonistic ‘class approach’ to international relations; a novel emphasis on universal interests and values that undercut the traditional ‘two camps’ approach; and ‘reasonable sufficiency’ becoming the criterion for justifying Soviet military expenditure. The sources of the new thinking are discussed, and in the conduct of state‐to‐state relations, particular attention is paid to the Soviet‐United States relationship and to relations with Europe, both West and East. The changes Gorbachev introduced in Soviet foreign policy made possible the transformation of the East European political landscape and it is especially notable that he refused to attempt to stem the democratic tide that flowed across the Eastern part of the continent even when it threatened to overwhelm him.
The National Question, and the Coup, the Collapse of the Soviet Union
Authors: Brown Archie
Published: October 2003

The chapter concentrates on one of the four transformations identified in Ch. 6 as necessary if the Soviet Union were to make a transition from authoritarianism to democracy – the need to transform national and centre‐periphery relations. The unintended consequences of democratization and of reform in the area of inter‐ethnic and federal relations led to the attempted coup of August 1991 to prevent the signing of a new and voluntary Union Treaty, which would have legitimized greatly decentralized power within the Soviet Union. The chapter discusses the general issue of state boundaries and democratic transitions and pays attention to various national hotspots in the Soviet Union of the perestroika years, among them Alma‐Ata (Almaty), Nagorno‐Karabakh, Tbilisi, and the Baltic states. Gorbachev's tactical retreat in the winter of 1990‐91 in the face of a conservative backlash is analysed, as is his break with the conservative forces in the spring of 1991 and his launch of the Novo‐Ogarevo process, designed to preserve the Union on the basis of a pacted settlement. The chapter concludes with discussion of the extremely damaging effects of the August coup on Mikhail Gorbachev's authority and on his prospects of preserving any kind of Union. On 25th December 1991, Gorbachev signed a decree divesting himself of his authority as President of the USSR and transferring his powers as Commander‐in‐Chief of the armed forces to Boris Yeltsin who had been elected President of Russia in June of that year. Control of nuclear weapons, together with the Soviet seat at the United Nations, passed to Russia as the largest successor state to the USSR and its ‘continuer state’.
Philosophical Papers Volume I
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

This book contains 15 papers by the influential American philosopher, David Lewis. All previously published (between 1966 and 80), these papers are divided into three groups: ontology, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. Lewis supplements eight of the fifteen papers with postscripts in which he amends claims, answers objections, and introduces later reflections. Topics discussed include possible worlds, counterpart theory, modality, personal identity, radical interpretation, language, propositional attitudes, the mind, and intensional semantics. Among the positions Lewis defends are modal realism, materialism, socially contextualized formal semantics, and functionalism of the mind. The volume begins with an introduction in which Lewis discusses his philosophical method.
Counterparts of Persons and Their Bodies
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

The possibility of a person switching bodies presents a challenge to Lewis's conviction that necessarily, a person occupies a body at a time if and only if that person is identical with that body at that time. In order to meet this challenge, Lewis modifies his counterpart theory to allow for multiple counterpart relations (e.g., one's personal counterpart, one's bodily counterpart). The wider significance of this modification lies in the general scheme it offers for translating any modal predication in which referential transparency fails (because the sense of the subject term is used in a way that extends beyond a determination of its denotation) into sentences of counterpart theory with multiple counterpart relations.
Survival and Identity
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

Prompted by Derek Parfit's early work on personal identity, Lewis advances the view that persons are best regarded as suitably related aggregates of person‐stages. Parfit argues that what matters in survival is either identity or mental continuity and connectedness; that the two cannot both be what matters in survival (because the former is a one‐one relation and does not admit of degree, whereas the latter can admit of degree and may be a one‐many or many‐one relation); and that what matters in survival is not identity. Contra Parfit, Lewis contends that the opposition is a false one, since it obscures the fact that mental continuity and connectedness is a relation between two person‐stages (i.e., time‐slices of continuant persons), whereas identity is a relation between temporally extended continuant persons with stages at different times. The postscript includes both Lewis’ rejoinder to Parfit's objections, as well as a further defense of person‐stages.
Radical Interpretation
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

As Lewis formulates it, the challenge of radical interpretation is the challenge of specifying how the totality of facts about a subject qua physical system determine that subject's beliefs, desires, and meanings. Lewis proposes six constraints for any proposed solution to the problem of radical interpretation; included among these constraints are the principles of charity (i.e., a subject should be represented as believing and desiring what he or she ought to believe and desire), rationalization (i.e., subjects should be represented as rational agents), and truthfulness (i.e., subjects should be interpreted as operating within a convention of truthfulness). Invoking these constraints, Lewis then considers several methods (one of which he advocates) for solving the problem of radical interpretation. Notably, the Davidsonian method is found to be inadequate because it flouts the principles of truthfulness and rationalization.
General Semantics
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

This paper presents Lewis's intensional semantics, on the basis of which he aims to answer two questions: “What sort of thing is a meaning?” and “What is the form of semantic rules whereby meanings of compounds are built from the meanings of their constituent parts?” To this end, Lewis develops a categorically based transformational grammar. The paper provides formal treatments of such topics as intensions (for both basic and derived categories), nondeclarative sentences, quantification, and noun‐phrases.
Scorekeeping in a Language Game
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

Sparked by the work of Robert Stalnaker, this paper integrates some of Lewis's views in formal semantics and formal pragmatics. Drawing an analogy with the practice of scorekeeping in baseball, Lewis proposes the notion of a “conversational score” that varies depending on the semantic vicissitudes arising from the contexts in which context‐sensitive terms (e.g. “flat”) are used. In such cases, Lewis argues, certain “rules of accommodation” inform the practice of natural discourse. Lewis demonstrates this phenomenon at work in a number of examples, including presupposition, permissibility, definite descriptions, reference, vagueness, modality, performatives, and making plans.
’Tensions
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

In this paper, Lewis introduces a problem that he cannot solve. He begins by describing, in general outline, two idealized languages: one richly intensional, the other purely extensional. The problem arises when we imagine two field linguists – one an intensionalist (like Lewis), the other an extensionalist – faced with the task of interpreting a tribe that speaks a previously unknown language. When the intensionalist interprets the tribesmen as using an intensional language, the extensionalist disagrees, claiming it “gratuitous of [the intensionalist] to ascribe to them a language that requires the notoriously obscure apparatus of intensional semantics.” Lewis dismisses several unsatisfactory rejoinders to this challenge and concludes by drawing several morals from the unresolved dialectical situation.
Truth in Fiction
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

Drawing on his account of possible worlds, Lewis attempts to specify the truth‐conditions for statements of the form, ‘In fiction f, Φ’. According to Lewis, such truth in fiction is the product of two sources: “the explicit content of the fiction, and a background consisting either of the facts about our world or of the beliefs overt in the community of origin.” In the postscript, Lewis addresses the topics of make‐believe, impossible fictions, and fiction in the service of truth.
The Nature of Mathematical Knowledge
Authors: Kitcher Philip
Published: October 2003

The Nature of Mathematical Knowledge develops and defends an empiricist approach to mathematical knowledge. After offering an account of a priori knowledge, it argues that none of the available accounts of a priori mathematical knowledge is viable. It then constructs an approach to the content of mathematical statements, viewing mathematics as grounded in our manipulations of physical reality. From these crude beginnings, mathematics unfolds through the successive modifications of mathematical practice, spurred by the presence of unsolved problems. This process of unfolding is considered in general, and illustrated by considering the historical development of analysis from the seventeenth century to the end of the nineteenth.
The Apriorist Program
Authors: Kitcher Philip
Published: October 2003

Can proofs yield a priori knowledge? In this chapter, we consider the ways in which a priori knowledge might be transmitted, and how the transmission process might fail.
Conceptualism
Authors: Kitcher Philip
Published: October 2003

If we are to obtain a priori mathematical knowledge by following proofs, then we have to be able to have a priori knowledge of the axioms. This chapter continues Chapter 3's examination of the major accounts of how such knowledge might be gained. It is argued that all these accounts fail.
The Development of Analysis: A Case Study
Authors: Kitcher Philip
Published: October 2003

Concludes with a more sustained look at a single part of the history of mathematics, the development of analysis from the seventeenth century to the work of Dedekind, Cantor and Frege. The discussion is linked to the general account of Chapters 7–9.
Counterfactual Dependence and Time's Arrow
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

Upholds the asymmetry of counterfactual dependence, and proposes a semantic analysis of counterfactual conditionals that can account for it. It also considers the asymmetry of miracles and that of overdetermination, and answers the “future similarity” objection. The paper contains five postscripts, dealing with objections and further issues arising from the proposed account.
Probabilities of Conditionals and Conditional Probabilities
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

In this paper, the view that probabilities of conditionals are conditional probabilities is rejected on the grounds that there is no satisfactory way of interpreting a conditional connective such that the probabilities of conditionals will equal appropriate conditional probabilities. The paper contains a postscript where the theory of indicative conditionals proposed is rejected, and an alternative theory developed by Jackson is endorsed instead.
Causation
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

Argues for an analysis of causation in terms counterfactual dependence between events. It shows how this analysis works to distinguish genuine causes from effects, epiphenomena, and preempted potential causes. The paper includes six postscripts, dealing with further issues related to the analysis proposed, such as indeterminism, causation by omission, and redundant causation.
Prisoners' Dilemma Is a Newcomb Problem
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

This paper argues that, considered as puzzles about rationality, the Prisoners’ Dilemma and Newcomb's Problem are essentially one and the same problem.
Utilitarianism and Truthfulness
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2003

Considers a Prisoners’ dilemma–type scenario, which aims to show the “disutility of utilitarianism.” The scenario is dealt with by showing that one can avail oneself of an independent premise of truthfulness in such cases.
Introduction
Authors: Houthakker Hendrik S. , Williamson Peter J.
Published: October 2003

This introductory chapter begins by explaining what the book is about. It then goes on to define financial markets and financial instruments, and to outline the basic concepts of accounting – the balance sheet, the cash flow statement, and the income statement. The book is mostly concerned with financial markets in the narrow historical sense of a market as central trading place (e.g., stock exchanges and the futures market); other important financial markets, notably those in government bonds, foreign currencies, and over‐the‐counter stocks, are also included since although they do not have central trading places, they share many of the features of markets in the narrow sense. Financial instruments are defined as readily negotiable claims, and include bonds, shares, futures contracts, and options; since futures and options differ in essential ways from securities – equities (shares or stocks), bonds, and other similar financial instruments – and are traded in different markets, they are called ‘derived financial instruments’, or ‘derivatives’.
The Demand for Securities
Authors: Houthakker Hendrik S. , Williamson Peter J.
Published: October 2003

This chapter covers the demand side of the financial markets, with some example data from the USA. Three important factors driving demand are covered in detail in the three sections: the time value of money and expected returns, attitudes toward risk, and the possibility of reducing risk by holding a diversified portfolio of investments. A framework based on microeconomic theory is presented for analyzing why individuals and other investors are interested in the various types of financial instruments discussed in the previous chapter. This approach allows development of the links between demand and interest rates on bonds of different maturities or rates of return on financial instruments with different risk profiles. The willingness of an investor to hold a particular security is shown to depend on two sets of characteristics – those of the investor and those of the security.
Securities Markets and Their Efficiency
Authors: Houthakker Hendrik S. , Williamson Peter J.
Published: October 2003

The discussion in this chapter begins with an analysis of central trading places, which looks at the economics of securities trading and the rationale for brokers and central trading places (with reference to US stock exchanges), the types of orders buyers or sellers may place in the market and the way these are executed, and the system of ‘specialists’ commonly found in stock exchanges (which is designed to provide a smooth and continuous market for individual stocks). Next, it briefly examines financial markets without central trading places. This is followed by a look at the mechanics of securities trading in the stock exchanges in London (UK) and Tokyo (Japan). The last section of the chapter discusses the operational efficiency of the stock market and the efficient market hypothesis (EFM), looking at the implications of central exchanges in which information flows rapidly between participants for the efficiency of the stock market as a whole and, in particular, at the ‘random walk’ behavior of share prices.
Security Analysis
Authors: Houthakker Hendrik S. , Williamson Peter J.
Published: October 2003

In Ch. 5, it was stated that security analysis is consistent with market efficiency because it interprets the news that reaches the market from firms and other sources. This chapter discusses in more detail how this interpretation is accomplished, drawing mostly on three sources: the economics of industrial organization, data on industry growth, and accounting; most of the examples are from the USA. It begins by examining the implications of market efficiency for the possible returns to be gained from security analysis, and explaining how to analyze the intrinsic value of a corporate equity by taking into account the responsiveness of the company's performance to economic growth, the structure of its industry, and its sources of competitive advantage. It also explains the insights to be gained by proper analysis of a company's financial statements. Finally, it assesses the uses and pitfalls of various shortcuts to security valuation, including the uses of price earnings ratios and Tobin's q ratio.