bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Europium-doped barium halide scintillators for x-ray and γ-ray detections
Authors: Selling J. , Birowosuto M. D. , Dorenbos P. , Schweizer S.
Published: February 2007

Single crystals of undoped or europium-doped barium chloride, bromide, and iodide were investigated under x-ray and γ-ray excitations. The Eu2+-related x-ray excited luminescence found in the Eu-doped barium halides occurs at 402, 404, and 425nm for the chloride, bromide, and iodide, respectively. BaCl2:Eu2+ shows the best scintillation properties of the systems investigated. The light yield is about 20000±2000photonsperMeV of absorbed γ-ray energy, the energy resolution for the 662keV photopeak is 8.8%±0.9%, and the scintillation decay time is 390±40ns.
Improvements of external quantum efficiency of InGaN-based blue light-emitting diodes at high current density using GaN substrates
Authors: Akita Katsushi , Kyono Takashi , Yoshizumi Yusuke , Kitabayashi Hiroyuki , Katayama Koji
Published: February 2007

InGaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with different quantum well (QW) thicknesses were grown on freestanding GaN substrates with low threading dislocation densities (TDDs) and on c-plane sapphire substrates. In the case of thin QWs of 3nm in thickness, the external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of LEDs on GaN substrates, as well as those on sapphire substrates, decreased with increasing forward current, indicating that carrier localization is in play on both types of substrates. For thicker 5-nm-thick QWs, the EQEs of LEDs grown on GaN substrates improved at high current densities, while those on sapphire substrates decreased even at low current densities. The LED with 5-nm-thick QWs on the GaN substrate mounted p-side down and molded with epoxy showed EQE as high as 26% at 125A∕cm2. Cathodoluminescence observations of the active layers on GaN substrates revealed that the expansion of nonradiative areas related to TDDs, which are responsible for the deterioration of the EQE of the LED on the sapphire substrate, had been suppressed.
WSXM: A software for scanning probe microscopy and a tool for nanotechnology
Authors: Horcas I. , Fernández R. , Gómez-Rodríguez J. M. , Colchero J. , Gómez-Herrero J. , Baro A. M.
Published: February 2007

In this work we briefly describe the most relevant features of WSXM, a freeware scanning probe microscopy software based on MS-Windows. The article is structured in three different sections: The introduction is a perspective on the importance of software on scanning probe microscopy. The second section is devoted to describe the general structure of the application; in this section the capabilities of WSXM to read third party files are stressed. Finally, a detailed discussion of some relevant procedures of the software is carried out.
Monodomain to polydomain transition in ferroelectric PbTiO3 thin films with La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 electrodes
Authors: Lichtensteiger Céline , Dawber Matthew , Stucki Nicolas , Triscone Jean-Marc , Hoffman Jason , Yau Jeng-Bang , Ahn Charles H. , Despont Laurent , Aebi Philipp
Published: February 2007

Finite size effects in ferroelectric thin films have been probed in a series of epitaxial perovskite c-axis oriented PbTiO3 films grown on thin La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 epitaxial electrodes. The film thickness ranges from 480 down to 28Å (seven unit cells). The evolution of the film tetragonality c∕a, studied using high resolution x-ray diffraction measurements, shows first a decrease of c∕a with decreasing film thickness followed by a recovery of c∕a at small thicknesses. This recovery is accompanied by a change from a monodomain to a polydomain configuration of the polarization, as directly demonstrated by piezoresponse atomic force microscopy measurements.
Effect of (Li,Ce) doping in Aurivillius phase material Na0.25K0.25Bi2.5Nb2O9
Authors: Gai Zhi-Gang , Wang Jin-Feng , Wang Chun-Ming
Published: February 2007

The effect of (Li,Ce) substitution for A site on the properties of Na0.25K0.25Bi2.5Nb2O9-based ceramics was investigated. The piezoelectric activity of Na0.25K0.25Bi2.5Nb2O9-based ceramics is significantly improved by the modification of lithium and cerium. The Curie temperature (TC) gradually increases from 668to684°C with increasing the (Li,Ce) modification. The piezoelectric coefficient d33 of the [(Na0.5K0.5)Bi]0.44(LiCe)0.03[ ]0.03Bi2Nb2O9 ceramic was found to be 28pC∕N, the highest value among the Na0.25K0.25Bi2.5Nb2O9-based ceramics and also almost 50% higher than the reported d33 values of other bismuth layer-structured ferroelectric systems (∼5–19pC∕N). The planar coupling factors kp and kt were found to be 8.0% and 23.0%, together with the high TC (∼670°C) and stable piezoelectric properties, demonstrating that the (Li,Ce) modified Na0.25K0.25Bi2.5Nb2O9-based material a promising candidate for high temperature applications.
Thermal-Degradation of Polymers and Polymer Models. IV. Thermolysis of a Polymethacrylate Model With an Unsaturated End Group
Authors: Morrow GR , Rae ID
Published: February 2007

Thermal degradation of a model for the 'unsaturated end group' of poly(methyl methacrylate ) gives products which suggest that homolytic bond
cleavage, and not a retro-ene reaction, is the major pathway. The diester (CH3)2C(COOCH3)CH2C(COOCH3)=CH2, when heated at 250-300�, gives up to 50 mole % of methyl 2-methylpropanoate (methyl isobutyrate ).
Protective role of autophagy against
Vibrio cholerae
cytolysin, a pore-forming toxin from
V. cholerae
Authors: Gutierrez Maximiliano Gabriel , Saka Hector Alex , Chinen Isabel , Zoppino Felipe C. M. , Yoshimori Tamotsu , Bocco Jose Luis , Colombo María Isabel
Published: February 2007

Autophagy is the unique, regulated mechanism for the degradation of organelles. This intracellular process acts as a prosurvival pathway during cell starvation or stress and is also involved in cellular response against specific bacterial infections.
Vibrio cholerae
is a noninvasive intestinal pathogen that has been studied extensively as the causative agent of the human disease cholera.
V. cholerae
illness is produced primarily through the expression of a potent toxin (cholera toxin) within the human intestine. Besides cholera toxin, this bacterium secretes a hemolytic exotoxin termed
V. cholerae
cytolysin (VCC) that causes extensive vacuolation in epithelial cells. In this work, we explored the relationship between the vacuolation caused by VCC and the autophagic pathway. Treatment of cells with VCC increased the punctate distribution of LC3, a feature indicative of autophagosome formation. Moreover, VCC-induced vacuoles colocalized with LC3 in several cell lines, including human intestinal Caco-2 cells, indicating the interaction of the large vacuoles with autophagic vesicles. Electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the vacuoles caused by VCC presented hallmarks of autophagosomes. Additionally, biochemical evidence demonstrated the degradative nature of the VCC-generated vacuoles. Interestingly, autophagy inhibition resulted in decreased survival of Caco-2 cells upon VCC intoxication. Also, VCC failed to induce vacuolization in
Atg
5−/− cells, and the survival response of these cells against the toxin was dramatically impaired. These results demonstrate that autophagy acts as a cellular defense pathway against secreted bacterial toxins.
Maternal neoangiogenesis during pregnancy partly derives from fetal endothelial progenitor cells
Authors: Nguyen Huu Sau , Oster Michèle , Uzan Serge , Chareyre Fabrice , Aractingi Sélim , Khosrotehrani Kiarash
Published: February 2007

Fetal progenitor cells enter the maternal circulation during pregnancy and can persist for decades. We aimed to determine the role of these cells in tissue inflammation during pregnancy. WT female mice were mated to males transgenic for the EGFP (ubiquitous) or the luciferase gene controlled by the VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2; V-Luc) promoter. A contact hypersensitivity reaction was triggered during such pregnancies. Fetal cells were tracked by using real-time quantitative amplification of the transgene (real-time PCR), Y chromosome
in situ
hybridization (FISH), immunofluorescence or
in vivo
bioluminescence imaging. Real-time PCR disclosed fetal cells in the inflamed areas in all tested mice (17/17) with higher frequency and numbers in the inflamed compared with the control areas (
P
= 0.01). Double labeling demonstrated CD31+ EGFP+ fetal cells organized as blood vessels. In WT pregnant mice bearing V-Luc fetuses, a specific luciferase activity signal could be detected at the hypersensitivity site only, demonstrating the elective presence of VEGFR2-expressing fetal cells. In conclusion, using various techniques, we found the presence of fetal endothelial cells lining blood vessels in maternal sites of inflammation. These results imply that fetal endothelial progenitor cells are acquired by the mother and participate in maternal angiogenesis during pregnancy.
Superoxide-mediated amplification of the oxygen-induced switch from [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] clusters in the transcriptional regulator FNR
Authors: Crack Jason C. , Green Jeffrey , Cheesman Myles R. , Le Brun Nick E. , Thomson Andrew J.
Published: February 2007

In
Escherichia coli
, the switch between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism is controlled primarily by FNR (regulator of fumarate and nitrate reduction), the protein that regulates the transcription of >100 genes in response to oxygen. Under oxygen-limiting conditions, FNR binds a [4Fe-4S]
2+
cluster, generating a transcriptionally active dimeric form. Upon exposure to oxygen the cluster converts to a [2Fe-2S]
2+
form, leading to dissociation of the protein into monomers, which are incapable of binding DNA with high affinity. The mechanism of cluster conversion together with the nature of the products of conversion is of considerable current interest. Here, we demonstrate that [4Fe-4S]
2+
to [2Fe-2S]
2+
cluster conversion, in both native and reconstituted [4Fe-4S] FNR, proceeds via a one electron oxidation of the cluster, to give a [3Fe-4S]
1+
cluster intermediate, with the release of one Fe
2+
ion and a superoxide ion. The cluster intermediate subsequently rearranges spontaneously to form the [2Fe-2S]
2+
cluster, with the release of a Fe
3+
ion and, as previously shown, two sulfide ions. Superoxide ion undergoes dismutation to hydrogen peroxide and oxygen. This mechanism, a one electron activation of the cluster, coupled to catalytic recycling of the resulting superoxide ion back to oxygen, provides a means of amplifying the sensitivity of [4Fe-4S] FNR to its signal molecule.
Influenza virus targets the mRNA export machinery and the nuclear pore complex
Authors: Satterly Neal , Tsai Pei-Ling , van Deursen Jan , Nussenzveig Daniel R. , Wang Yaming , Faria Paula A. , Levay Agata , Levy David E. , Fontoura Beatriz M. A.
Published: February 2007

The NS1 protein of influenza A virus is a major virulence factor that is essential for pathogenesis. NS1 functions to impair innate and adaptive immunity by inhibiting host signal transduction and gene expression, but its mechanisms of action remain to be fully elucidated. We show here that NS1 forms an inhibitory complex with NXF1/TAP, p15/NXT, Rae1/mrnp41, and E1B-AP5, which are key constituents of the mRNA export machinery that interact with both mRNAs and nucleoporins to direct mRNAs through the nuclear pore complex. Increased levels of NXF1, p15, or Rae1 revert the mRNA export blockage induced by NS1. Furthermore, influenza virus down-regulates Nup98, a nucleoporin that is a docking site for mRNA export factors. Reduced expression of these mRNA export factors renders cells highly permissive to influenza virus replication, demonstrating that proper levels of key constituents of the mRNA export machinery protect against influenza virus replication. Because Nup98 and Rae1 are induced by interferons, down-regulation of this pathway is likely a viral strategy to promote viral replication. These findings demonstrate previously undescribed influenza-mediated viral–host interactions and provide insights into potential molecular therapies that may interfere with influenza infection.
Elimination of insulitis and augmentation of islet β cell regeneration via induction of chimerism in overtly diabetic NOD mice
Authors: Zhang Chunyan , Todorov Ivan , Lin Chia-Lei , Atkinson Mark , Kandeel Fouad , Forman Stephen , Zeng Defu
Published: February 2007

Type 1 diabetes in both humans and nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice results from autoreactive T cell destruction of insulin-producing β cells. Cure of type 1 diabetes may require both reversal of autoimmunity and regeneration of β cells. Induction of chimerism via allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation has been shown to reestablish tolerance in both prediabetic and diabetic NOD mice. However, it is unclear whether this therapy augments β cell regeneration. Furthermore, this procedure usually requires total body irradiation conditioning of recipients. The toxicity of total body irradiation conditioning and potential for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) limit the application of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for treating type 1 diabetes. Here we report that injection of donor bone marrow and CD4+T cell-depleted spleen cells induced chimerism without causing GVHD in overtly diabetic NOD mice conditioned with anti-CD3/CD8 and that induction of chimerism in new-onset diabetic NOD mice led to elimination of insulitis, regeneration of host β cells, and reversal of hyperglycemia. Therefore, this radiation-free GVHD preventive approach for induction of chimerism may represent a viable means for reversing type 1 diabetes.
Work Schedule, Needle Use, and Needlestick Injuries Among Registered Nurses
Authors: Trinkoff Alison M. , Le Rong , Geiger-Brown Jeanne , Lipscomb Jane
Published: February 2007

Objective.

To examine the association between working conditions and needlestick injury among registered nurses. We also describe needle use and needlestick injuries according to nursing position, workplace, and specialty.

Design.

Three-wave longitudinal survey conducted between November 2002 and April 2004.

Setting and Participants.

A probability sample of 2,624 actively licensed registered nurses from 2 states in the United States. Follow-up rates for waves 2 and 3 were 85% and 86%, respectively. Respondents who had worked as a nurse during the past year (n= 2,273) prior to wave 1 were included in this analysis.

Results.

Of the nurses, 15.6% reported a history of needlestick injury in the year before wave 1, and the cumulative incidence by wave 3 was 16.3%. The estimated number of needles used per day was significantly related to the odds of sustaining a needlestick injury. Hours worked per day, weekends worked per month, working other than day shifts, and working 13 or more hours per day at least once a week were each significantly associated with needlestick injuries. A factor combining these variables was significantly associated with needlestick injuries even after adjustment for job demands, although this association was somewhat explained by physical job demands.

Conclusions.

Despite advances in protecting workers from needlestick injuries, extended work schedules and their concomitant physical demands are still contributing to the occurrence of injuries and illnesses to nurses. Such working conditions, if modified, could lead to further reductions in needlestick injuries.
Clostridium difficile in the Intensive Care Unit: Epidemiology, Costs, and Colonization Pressure
Authors: Lawrence Steven J. , Puzniak Laura A. , Shadel Brooke N. , Gillespie Kathleen N. , Kollef Marin H. , Mundy Linda M.
Published: February 2007

Objective.

To evaluate the epidemiology, outcomes, and importance of Clostridium difficile colonization pressure (CCP) as a risk factor for C. difficile–associated disease (CDAD) acquisition in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Design.

Secondary analysis of data from a 30-month retrospective cohort study.

Setting.

A 19-bed medical ICU in a midwestern tertiary care referral center.

Patients.

Consecutive sample of adult patients with a length of stay of 24 hours or more between July 1, 1997, and December 31, 1999.

Results.

Seventy-six (4%) of 1,872 patients were identified with CDAD; 40 (53%) acquired CDAD in the ICU, for an incidence of 3.2 cases per 1,000 patient-days. Antimicrobial therapy, enteral feeding, mechanical ventilation, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colonization or infection, and CCP (5.5 vs 2.0 CDAD case-days of exposure for patients with acquired CDAD vs no CDAD; P = .001) were associated with CDAD acquisition in the univariate analysis. Only VRE colonization or infection (45% of patients with acquired CDAD vs 16% of patients without CDAD; adjusted odds ratio, 2.76 [95% confidence interval, 1.36-5.59]) and a CCP of more than 30 case-days of exposure (20% with acquired CDAD vs 2% with no CDAD; adjusted odds ratio, 3.77 [95% confidence interval, 1.14-12.49]) remained statistically significant in the multivariable analysis. Lengths of stay (6.1 vs 3.0 days; P < .001 by univariate analysis) and ICU costs ($11,353 vs $6,028; P < .001 by univariate analysis) were higher for patients with any CDAD than for patients with no CDAD.

Conclusions.

In this nonoutbreak setting, the CCP was an independent risk factor for acquisition of CDAD in the ICU at the upper range of exposure duration. Having CDAD in the ICU was a marker of excess healthcare use.
Properties preserved under Morita equivalence of 𝐂*-algebras
Authors: Huef Astrid , Raeburn Iain , Williams Dana
Published: February 2007

We show that important structural properties of

C
∗

C^*

-algebras and the multiplicity numbers of representations are preserved under Morita equivalence.
On the exponential decay of the critical generalized Korteweg-de Vries equation with localized damping
Authors: Linares F. , Pazoto A.
Published: February 2007

This paper is concerned with the asymptotic behavior of solutions of the critical generalized Korteweg-de Vries equation in a bounded interval with a localized damping term. Combining multiplier techniques and compactness arguments it is shown that the problem of exponential decay of the energy is reduced to prove the unique continuation property of weak solutions. A locally uniform stabilization result is derived.
Zic3 Is Required for Maintenance of Pluripotency in Embryonic Stem Cells
Authors: Lim Linda Shushan , Loh Yuin-Han , Zhang Weiwei , Li Yixun , Chen Xi , Wang Yinan , Bakre Manjiri , Ng Huck-Hui , Stanton Lawrence W.
Published: February 2007

Embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency is dependent upon sustained expression of the key transcriptional regulators Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2. Dissection of the regulatory networks downstream of these transcription factors has provided critical insight into the molecular mechanisms that regulate ES cell pluripotency and early differentiation. Here we describe a role for Zic3, a member of the Gli family of zinc finger transcription factors, in the maintenance of pluripotency in ES cells. We show that Zic3 is expressed in ES cells and that this expression is repressed upon differentiation. The expression of Zic3 in pluripotent ES cells is also directly regulated by Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog. Targeted repression of Zic3 in human and mouse ES cells by RNA interference–induced expression of several markers of the endodermal lineage. Notably, the expression of Nanog, a key pluripotency regulator and repressor of extraembryonic endoderm specification in ES cells, was significantly reduced in Zic3 knockdown cells. This suggests that Zic3 may prevent endodermal marker expression through Nanog-regulated pathways. Thus our results extend the ES cell transcriptional network beyond Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2, and further establish that Zic3 plays an important role in the maintenance of pluripotency by preventing endodermal lineage specification in embryonic stem cells.
The Sacrificial Process of Ancient Israel
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: February 2007

This chapter examines the biblical sacrificial process, including purity rites, as recorded especially in the priestly tradition and the Holiness Code. It argues against placing the priestly traditions in a linear chronological relationship, as done by Julius Wellhausen and Yehezkel Kaufmann. It proposes a new symbolic understanding of both purity and sacrifice. Sacrifice can be understood as an act of imitatio Dei, with the goal of attracting the Divine Presence into the tabernacle.
Rethinking the Prophetic Critique
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: February 2007

This chapter reconsiders the biblical prophets’ attitude toward sacrifice, rejecting the radical contrast between priest and prophet as articulated by Max Weber, Wellhausen, and Kaufmann. It reviews various prophetic texts, including especially Amos, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. It suggests that the prophets’ symbolic actions are analogous to rituals, and argues that the prophets’ ostensible rejection of sacrifice is based in part on their belief that many sacrifices were being offered by those whose property was unduly earned, being proceeds from the exploitation of the poor.
The Last Supper, the Temple Incident, and the “Spiritualization” of Sacrifice in the New Testament
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: February 2007

This chapter reexamines New Testament traditions concerning the Last Supper and Jesus’ overturning the tables in the Jerusalem temple. It argues that the last supper can be understood as a symbolic act seeking to emulate the temple, affirming its efficacy and meaning. The temple incident is understood as a development of earlier prophetic notions concerning the rejection of stolen sacrifices. In his concern for the poor — and in line with his communitarian social message — Jesus overturned the tables in the temple because he rejected the idea that the poor should be charged at all for their sacrifices. The differing rabbinic perspective on this question is also explored. The chapter concludes with brief survey of anti-temple polemics found in Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation.
What RoboMary Knows
Authors: Dennett Daniel
Published: February 2007

This chapter further develops a line of argument Daniel Dennett presented in his 1991 book, Consciousness Explained, where he argued that we should reject the intuition that Mary gains knowledge when she leaves the room. In his view, this intuition derives from a failure to appreciate the implications of knowing all the physical facts. Dennet gives a more detailed account of his case. Specifically, he (1) criticizes attempts to defend the intuition; (2) devises variations on the Mary case to illustrate how a deduction from physical information of what it's like to see in color might actually proceed; and (3) defends his arguments against objections. He affirmatively answers the question: could a proper understanding of phenomenal concepts/knowledge show that there is or is not an epistemic gap? He argues that a proper understanding of phenomenal concepts and phenomenal knowledge helps to show that there is no epistemic gap.
The Knowledge Argument, Diaphanousness, Representationalism
Authors: Jackson Frank
Published: February 2007

This chapter develops a representationalist view about perceptual experience and defends its application to the knowledge argument. This view is based partly on the idea that perceptual experience is diaphanous — in other words, that accessing the nature of the experience itself is nothing other than accessing the properties of its object. It is argued that although the diaphanousness thesis alone does not entail representationalism, the thesis supports an inference from a weaker to a stronger version of representationalism. On the weak version, perceptual experience is essentially representational. On the strong version, how an experience represents things as being exhausts its experiential nature. Strong representationalism undermines the claim that Mary learns new truths when she leaves the room.
Does Representationalism Undermine the Knowledge Argument?
Authors: Alter Torin
Published: February 2007

The knowledge argument aims to refute physicalism — the view that the world is entirely physical. The argument first establishes the existence of facts (or truths or information) about consciousness that are not a priori deducible from the complete physical truth, and then infers the falsity of physicalism from this lack of deducibility. Frank Jackson gave the argument its classic formulation, but has since rejected the argument claiming that it relies on a false conception of sensory experience, which should be replaced with representationalism (also known as intentionalism) — the view that phenomenal states are just representational states. This chapter argues that Jackson's representationalist response to the knowledge argument fails. Physicalists face a representationalist version of the knowledge argument that inherits the force of the original. Reformulating the challenge in representationalist terms does little to help physicalists answer it.
Grasping Phenomenal Properties
Authors: Nida‐Rümelin Martine
Published: February 2007

This chapter presents an argument for property dualism. The argument employs a distinction between having a concept of a property and grasping a property via a concept. If you grasp a property P via a concept C, then C is a concept of P. But the reverse does not hold: you may have a concept of a property without grasping that property via any concept. If you grasp a property, then your cognitive relation to that property is more intimate than if you just have some concept or other of that property. To grasp a property is to understand what having that property essentially consists in. To have a concept of a property is to have a concept one can use to attribute the property to something. If you have the concept of water, then you can use it to attribute the property of being water to liquids. You then have a concept of the property of being water. But you may have the concept of water without knowing that being composed of H2O is essential for being water — without knowing what having the property of being water consists in. In that case, your concept would not enable you to grasp the property. An account of grasping properties is proposed.
Moral Science
Authors: Binmore Ken
Published: February 2007

This chapter presents an overview of the book. It argues that the metaphysical approach to ethics is a failure and that the time has come to take a scientific view of morality. A social contract is taken to be the set of common understandings that allow the citizens of a society to coordinate. Such social contracts are seen as the product of biological and cultural evolution. To survive, a social contract must therefore be an equilibrium in the repeated game of life played by a society. Since the folk theorem of repeated game theory says that there are large numbers of such equilibria, fairness norms then become explicable as an equilibrium selection device that selects one of the many efficient equilibria of a society's game of life. It is suggested that the deep structure of such fairness norms is captured by John Rawls' notion of the original position, and is therefore universal in the human species. On the other hand, the standard of interpersonal comparison needed as an input to the original position is culturally determined.
Introduction
Authors: Simpson Tom , Carruthers Peter , Laurence Stephen , Stich Stephen
Published: February 2007

This introductory chapter reviews some of the debates in philosophy, psychology, anthropology, evolutionary theory, and other cognitive sciences that provide a background for the topics with which this volume is concerned. Topics covered include the history of nativism, the poverty of the stimulus argument, the uniform and structure pattern followed by human cognitive development, evolution biology, and cognitive modularity. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
Distinctively Human Thinking
Authors: Carruthers Peter
Published: February 2007

This chapter addresses the main challenge facing massively modular theories of the architecture of the human mind. This is to account for the distinctively flexible, non-domain-specific character of much human thinking. It shows how the appearance of a modular language faculty within an evolving modular architecture might have led to these distinctive features of human thinking with only minor further additions and non-domain-specific adaptations.
Toward a Reasonable Nativism
Authors: Simpson Tom
Published: February 2007

This chapter sketches the outlines of what a reasonable form of nativism might look like. The neuroconstructivists' challenge indicates that some misunderstanding continues to exist among certain self-titled nonnativists over what it is that practicing nativists actually claim, together with a mistaken belief that current neurodevelopmental data is not or cannot be compatible with the nativist program. Both these issues are addressed by first providing further explication of the claims of practicing nativists, and then showing how these claims provide the basis for a reasonable nativism that is fully cognizant of and consistent with empirical data from all the developmental sciences, neuroconstructivism included.
Two Insights about Naming in the Preschool Child
Authors: Gelman Susan A.
Published: February 2007

This chapter examines associationist models of cognitive development, focusing on the development of naming in young children — the process by which young children learn of construct the meanings of words and concepts. It presents two early-emerging insights that children possess about the nature of naming. These insights are: (1) essentialism: certain words map onto nonobvious, underlying causal features (e.g., dogs are alike in internal and subtle respects, even if they look quite different on the surface), and (2) genericity: certain expressions map onto generic kinds (e.g., dogs as an abstract category) as opposed to particular instances (e.g., one or more specific dogs). The chapter discusses empirical studies with preschool children to support the contention that essentialism and genericity emerge early in development and that neither insight is directly taught. It also explores the question of whether these insights can be derived wholly from a direct reading of cues that are ‘out there’in the world, and concludes that they cannot. The implications of these findings for innateness are then considered. It is argued that both essentialism and genericity provide cues regarding plausible candidates for innate conceptual knowledge in children.
Parent‐Offspring Conflict and the Development of Social Understanding
Authors: Povinelli Daniel J. , Prince Christopher G. , Preuss Todd M.
Published: February 2007

This chapter begins with a brief review of the theory of parent-offspring conflict and considers the role of this conflict in the cognitive development of human infants. It then discusses the evolution of theory of mind — which is taken to have its origins in human evolution — and considers how this human cognitive specialization might have interacted with existing parent-offspring dynamics. How the epigenetic systems of infants might have responded is shown by elaborating upon existing cognitive and behavioural systems, or by canalizing later developing ones earlier into development, in order to recruit higher degrees of parental investment. The merits of this framework is assessed in the context of the development of behaviours considered by some researchers to be indicative of a certain degree of social understanding, namely, gaze-following, pointing, social smiling, and neonatal imitation. The chapter concludes by showing how this proposal makes several longstanding theoretical and methodological difficulties for the field of cognitive development even more vexing.
The Plausibility of Adaptations for Homicide
Authors: Duntley Joshua D. , Buss David M.
Published: February 2007

This chapter presents a new theory of homicide — homicide adaptation theory — which proposes that humans evolved adaptations to facilitate killing. The new theory is contrasted with two competing conceptions of why people kill: the by-product hypothesis and the evolved goal hypothesis. The concept of ‘innateness’ in relation to the conception of evolved homicide adaptations presented in this chapter is discussed.
Cognitive Neuroscience and the Structure of the Moral Mind
Authors: Greene Joshua
Published: February 2007

This chapter discusses neurocognitive work relevant to moral psychology and the proposition that innate factors make important contributions to moral judgment. It reviews various sources of evidence for an innate moral faculty, before presenting brain-imaging data in support of the same conclusion. It is argued that our moral thought is the product of an interaction between some ‘gut-reaction’ moral emotions and our capacity for abstract reflection.
Al-KindĪ
Authors: Adamson Peter
Published: February 2007

This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely engaged with Greek philosophical and scientific texts, whose translation into Arabic he oversaw. Some of the philosophical views for which al-Kindī is known are reactions to Greek thinkers. For instance, he used ideas from Philoponus in arguing against the eternity of the world, and his discussion of divine attributes is based on Neoplatonic texts. However, the book also places al-Kindī’s thought within the context of 9th century Islamic culture, especially contemporary theological developments. The book covers every aspect of al-Kindī’s extant philosophical corpus, including not only his philosophical theology but also his theory of soul, his epistemology, and his ethics. Two chapters are devoted to al-Kindī’s works on the natural sciences (in particular pharmacology, optics, music, and cosmology). The book concludes by discussing how al-Kindī used Greek cosmological ideas in his account of divine providence.
Metaphysics
Authors: Adamson Peter
Published: February 2007

This chapter deals with al-Kindī’s metaphysics, which in this context means theology and the idea that being is an emanation or creation from God. Depending on the Neoplatonists, especially Proclus, al-Kindī proves God’s existence by arguing for the need for a “true One”, whose absolute simplicity rules out a multiplicity of divine attributes.
Causal Models
Authors: Sloman Steven
Published: February 2007

Human beings are active agents who can think. To understand how thought serves action requires understanding how people conceive of the relation between cause and effect, between action and outcome. This book presents the question, in cognitive terms: how do people construct and reason with the causal models we use to represent our world? A revolution is occurring in how statisticians, philosophers, and computer scientists answer this question. Those fields have ushered in new insights about causal models by thinking about how to represent causal structure mathematically, in a framework that uses graphs and probability theory to develop what are called causal Bayesian networks. The framework starts with the idea that the purpose of causal structure is to understand and predict the effects of intervention. How does intervening on one thing affect other things? This is not a question merely about probability (or logic), but about action. The framework offers a new understanding of mind: thought is about the effects of intervention and cognition is thus intimately tied to actions that take place either in the actual physical world or in imagination, in counterfactual worlds. This book offers a conceptual introduction to the key mathematical ideas, presenting them in a non-technical way, focusing on the intuitions rather than the theorems. It tries to show why the ideas are important to understanding how people explain things and why thinking not only about the world as it is but the world as it could be is so central to human action. The book reviews the role of causality, causal models, and intervention in the basic human cognitive functions: decision making, reasoning, judgment, categorization, inductive inference, language, and learning. In short, the book offers a discussion about how people think, talk, learn, and explain things in causal terms, in terms of action and manipulation.
Decision Making via Causal Consequences
Authors: Sloman Steven
Published: February 2007

This chapter discusses how we make decisions. Topics covered include the gambling metaphor, Newcomb's paradox, and people's concern about causal structure. It is argued that in general, both normative thinking and naïve thinking about decisions always depend on a causal model of the decision situation. However, that causal model does not always dictate what people decide. Sometimes people make decisions that reflect how they want the world to be, rather than according to their understanding of how the world actually works. This fact about people is itself a causal mechanism governing one way in which people influence their environments. Behaving as one wants the world to be can make it more likely that the world will actually turn out that way.
Causal Learning
Authors: Sloman Steven
Published: February 2007

This chapter offers a selection of theories of causal learning. Some of the theories come out of psychology, while others come out of rational analyses of causal learning. All tend to focus on how people use correlations — information about which events go together — to figure out what is causing what. A number of other, supporting pieces of information about what causes what — a number of other cues to causal structure — that people are responsive to are described. The costs and benefits of allowing learners to actively intervene on the system they are learning are discussed.
Faith and Law in a Multicultural World
Authors: Berman Harold J.
Published: February 2007

This essay explores some dimensions of the developing body of world law and its source in the emerging world society of states, corporations, and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). It is the thesis of this essay that the universal belief in law constitutes an important element of the fundamental belief system — in that sense, the religion — of the emerging world society. At the heart of all the major religions is the same faith in peace and sociability, that is at the heart of all the major legal systems. A universal faith in law shares with religious faith not only a body of moral principles, but also the element of faith itself.
Moving to Markets in Environmental Regulation
Authors: Freeman Jody , Kolstad Charles D.
Published: February 2007

Over the last decade, market-based incentives have become the regulatory tool of choice when trying to solve difficult environmental problems. Evidence of their dominance can be seen in recent proposals for addressing global warming (through an emissions trading scheme in the Kyoto Protocol) and for amending the Clean Air Act (to add a new emissions trading systems for smog precursors and mercury — the Bush administration's “Clear Skies” program). They are widely viewed as more efficient than traditional command and control regulation. This collection of essays takes a critical look at this question, and evaluates whether the promises of market-based regulation have been fulfilled. Contributors put forth the ideas that few regulatory instruments are actually purely market-based, or purely prescriptive, and that both approaches can be systematically undermined by insufficiently careful design and by failures of monitoring and enforcement. All in all, the essays recommend future research that no longer pits one kind of approach against the other, but instead examines their interaction and compatibility. This book should appeal to academics in environmental economics and law, along with policymakers in government agencies and advocates in non-governmental organizations.
Embodied Practices: Negotiation and Resistance
Authors: McGuire Meredith
Published: February 2007

Eschewing the notion that people’s spirituality and their bodily materiality are in binary opposition, this chapter examines how people engage their material bodies in their religious and spiritual practices. Rather than looking at the practices of religious institutions, it asks: What might we see differently if we focused on the ordinary, everyday embodied practices by which people, individually and collectively, literally live their religions? Bodies (e.g., senses, postures, gestures, and voices) are at the very core of individual religious experience, as well as at the center of shared religious expression and community. Examples of specific embodied practices in gardening and dancing suggest how many contemporary patterns of lived religion involve embodied practices.
Bioethics and the Brain
Authors: Glannon Walter
Published: February 2007

Our ability to map and intervene in the structure of the human brain is proceeding at a very quick rate. Advances in psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery have given us fresh insights into the neurobiological basis of human thought and behavior. Technologies like MRI and PET scans can detect early signs of psychiatric disorders before they manifest symptoms. Electrical and magnetic stimulation of the brain can non-invasively relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and other conditions resistant to treatment, while implanting neuro-electrodes can help patients with Parkinson's and other motor control-related diseases. New drugs can help regenerate neuronal connections otherwise disrupted by schizophrenia and similar diseases. All these procedures and drugs alter the neural correlates of our mind, and raise fascinating and important ethical questions about their benefits and harms. They are, in a sense, among the most profound bioethical questions we face, since these techniques can touch on the deepest aspects of the human mind: free will, personal identity, the self, and the soul. This book starts by describing the state of the art in neuroscientific research and treatment, and gives an up-to-date picture of the brain. It then looks at the ethical implications of various kinds of treatments, such as whether or not brain imaging will end up changing our views on free will and moral responsibility; whether patients should always be told that they are at future risk for neurological diseases; if erasing unconscious emotional memories implicated in depression can go too far; if forcing behavior-modifying drugs or surgery on violent offenders can ever be justified; the implications of drugs that enhance cognitive abilities; and how to define brain death and the criteria for the withdrawal of life–support.
Neuroimaging
Authors: Glannon Walter
Published: February 2007

This chapter describes different forms of brain imaging, laying out their design and limitations. It explains the ways brain scans can help to diagnose mental disorders, as well as to monitor the progression of these disorders and the effects of treatment for them. More ethically controversial uses of diagnostic imaging are discussed, including what brain scans might tell us about the neurobiological basis of free will and how they might influence our judgments about moral and legal responsibility. Ethical issues surrounding predictive imaging are then considered, focusing on problems with obtaining informed consent from patients and research subjects. This discussion will also consider the potential benefit and harm of having advance information associated with a neurological or psychiatric disease that one may or may not develop.
Brain Death
Authors: Glannon Walter
Published: February 2007

This chapter defends a narrow neurological criterion of death, which says that the permanent cessation of higher brain, or cortical, function is sufficient for the death of a person. It distinguishes between persons and human organisms, and argues that we are essentially persons rather than organisms. This distinction is elaborated by considering different conceptions of the soul, as well as different perspectives on when the soul leaves the body. It is argued that only persons, and not human organisms, can have interests. The capacity for consciousness is necessary to have interests, and this capacity is an essential property of persons but not of human organisms. Insofar as benefit and harm are defined in terms of the satisfaction or defeat of interests, only persons can benefit or be harmed. This argument is critical for exploring the ethical implications of brain death. It is particularly critical for analyzing ethical questions about the permissibility or impermissibility of such actions as withdrawing life-support and procuring organs for transplantation.
The Ministry of the Laity Era (c. 1946–1985)
Authors: Miller David W.
Published: February 2007

This chapter focuses on the emergence of the Ministry of Laity era. As the Social Gospel era of the FAW movement receded, ending with World War II, it was soon refueled through the midcentury developments that comprise the Ministry of the Laity era. Although this second era built on aspects of earlier 20th-century activity from wave one, this phase of FAW was different. In large part, it was characterized by a shift away from the institutional church and toward an ecclesiastical emphasis on the laity, including its popularization, and the proliferation of special-purpose groups.
The Future of the Faith at Work Movement
Authors: Miller David W.
Published: February 2007

This chapter addresses the following questions: where is the Faith at Work movement is heading? Will it run out of steam, or will it continue to expand, perhaps in new shapes and forms? It argues that unless the desire for integration and a holistic life, and the other conditions that created this groundswell of activity changes, the movement will continue to grow and develop in a variety of new ways and configurations. However, what remains to be seen is how the theological academy, the church, FAW participants, and companies respond. In light of this probability, it is appropriate to pause and critically reflect on the ramifications of this direction and to propose fresh theological and marketplace resources to understand and engage the future of the FAW movement.
Introduction
Authors: Miller David W.
Published: February 2007

This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the growth of the Faith at Work movement (FAW). The movement refers to the rising numbers of businesspeople, from all levels, who are attending conferences and management seminars on spirituality and work, participating in small prayer and study groups on faith and leadership, and reading books, magazines, and newsletters for self–help as regards integrating biblical teachings with marketplace demands. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.
Financial Restraint: Toward a New Paradigm
Authors: Hellmann Thomas , Murdock Kevin , Stiglitz Joseph
Published: February 2007

This chapter introduces the new concept of financial restraint: a set of financial policies that create rent opportunities in the banking and production sectors. It is argued that these rents may curtail a bank’s moral hazard behaviour and enhance incentives for monitoring and savings mobilization. Consequently, more efficient credit allocation and financial deepening are induced under financial restraint than under eitherlaissez-faireor financial repression.