bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Defending political autonomy: a discussion of Charles Beitz
Authors: Miller David
Published: April 2005

Among political philosophers, discussion of Charles Beitz's very important book Political Theory and International Relations has focused mainly on Part Three, in which Beitz addresses the issue of global distributive justice, and argues in favour of applying Rawls's difference principle globally: an ideally just world would be one in which the share of income and other primary goods going to the least advantaged group of persons would be maximised, no matter which society those persons belonged to. There has been much debate about whether relationships across the world are cooperative in the sense that this principle is thought to presuppose, how one might construct an international index of advantage and disadvantage, and so forth. Beitz himself has contributed to this debate, and it remains central to contemporary work on global justice.
Global interdependence and distributive justice
Authors: Caney Simon
Published: April 2005

Charles Beitz's Political Theory and International Relations has had an enormous impact on analyses of the ethical issues raised at the global level. It was the first systematic discussion of such ethical issues in the last 50 years if not more. It remains a landmark for a number of different reasons. First, it stands out for the sophistication of its philosophical argument and the meticulous argumentation throughout. The latter is deployed not simply to provide powerful critiques of other perspectives (such as realism and the morality of states). It also puts forward and defends with considerable ingenuity a cosmopolitan theory of distributive justice. A second striking and impressive feature of the book is that it successfully integrates philosophical argument with a deep grasp of the nature of world politics and the empirical and theoretical literatures on salient aspects of world politics.
‘Is It All Going Soft?’ The Turning Point in Russian Actor Training
Authors: Pitches Jonathan
Published: April 2005

Whilst Stanislavsky spent much of his energy trying to simplify the processes of acting and avoiding a (pseudo-) scientific terminology for his acting system, he was nevertheless caught up in Stalin's appropriation of hard science after the Russian Revolution, to be paired with other ‘founding fathers’ of Soviet materialism, including Ivan Pavlov, in the creation of a powerful political orthodoxy. Here, Jonathan Pitches focuses on two of Stanislavsky's key contemporaries, Meyerhold and Michael Chekhov, both of whom had worked with the founder of the System at different periods in their career, to pinpoint a significant shift, or turning point, in the development of twentieth-century Russian actor training. Drawing on Fritjof Capra's history of systemic thinking, the article argues that a radical shift of thinking took place in actor training in the 1920s and 1930s, which prefigures the global paradigm crisis Capra has identified at the turn of the last century. Jonathan Pitches is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Contemporary Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of Vsevolod Meyerhold (Routledge, 2003). This article is a revised version of a paper delivered at the IFTR 2004 Conference in St Petersburg. Its argument derives from his forthcoming book Science and the Stanislavsky Tradition (Routledge, 2005).
Meyerhold and the New Millennium
Authors: Normington Katie
Published: April 2005

In this article, Katie Normington outlines the increasing interest in Meyerhold's work and assesses previous applications of his methods to contemporary production work. She goes on to consider how working as movement director for Red Shift Theatre Company's adaptation of Herman Melville's short story, Bartleby, enabled research into the application of Meyerhold's system of Biomechanics. Rehearsals for Bartleby combined actor-training and text rehearsals so that the Stanislavskian-trained actors gained ownership of biomechanical principles and could apply aspects to their independent exploration. This article analyzes the results of the work, and concludes that Meyerholdian techniques developed a physical architecture for the performance which, even during an arduous tour, maintained the clear shape and rhythm of the production. The use of principles such as rakurs, often neglected within present-day experimentation, proved to be essential in providing actors with a sense of composition and an awareness of their bodies in space. However, aspects such as facial expression and emotional excitability require further investigation. Katie Normington is Senior Lecturer in Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk: Re-imagining the Urban Landscape
Authors: Miller Graeme
Published: April 2005

The following interview is intended is a companion piece to the preceding article by Carl Lavery, ‘The Pepys of E11: Graeme Miller and the Politics of Linked’. The interview took place in East London in late August 2004.
Rotational motions induced by the M8.1 Tokachi‐oki earthquake, September 25, 2003
Authors: Igel Heiner , Schreiber Ulrich , Flaws Asher , Schuberth Bernhard , Velikoseltsev Alex , Cochard Alain
Published: April 2005

We report the first consistent observations of rotational motions around a vertical axis induced by distant large earthquakes. It is standard in seismology to observe three components (up‐down, N‐S, E‐W) of earthquake‐induced translational ground motions using inertial seismometers. However, only recently ring laser technology has provided the required sensitivity for observations of the theoretically predicted rotational part of ground motion generated by seismic waves in a wide distance range and frequency band. Here we show that the rotations observed are consistent in waveform and amplitude with collocated recordings of transverse accelerations recorded by a standard seismometer. This suggests that rotations may become a new observable for seismology and related fields with the potential of providing complementary information on earthquake source processes, structural properties, and ground shaking.
Permeability creation and damage due to massive fluid injections into granite at 3.5 km at Soultz: 1. Borehole observations
Authors: Evans Keith F. , Genter Albert , Sausse Judith
Published: April 2005

The process of porosity and permeability creation in rock masses through increased pore pressure is important in many areas of geoscience, particularly for engineered geothermal sysytems. In this paper, we analyze an unusually complete data set to determine the hydraulic and mechanical changes that occurred about a 3.6 km deep borehole in previously undisturbed granite because of massive fluid injections. The hole is open for 750 m and intersects a relatively transmissive fault near the bottom at 3.5 km. The equivalent porous medium permeability of the rock mass in the 650 m above the fault was very low (∼10−17 m2), and focused at 17 naturally permeable fractures that lay within hydrothermally altered zones. During injection, some 95% of the flow entered the rock mass at just 10 “major flowing fractures,” most of which were naturally permeable. Following the injections, the transmissivity of the section above the fault increased 200‐fold, and the number of permeable fractures increased to ∼100, the distribution being clearly organized, with major flowing fractures each surrounded by clusters of weakly‐flowing, newly permeable fractures. These zones of permeability creation/enhancement correlate with the presence of hydrothermal alteration, which in turn reflects the intersection of the borehole with extensive, hydrothermally altered, cataclastic shear structures. Thus permeability creation/enhancement occurred primarily within these structures, the major flowing fractures representing the core of the structures and the clusters of newlypermeable fractures denoting the damage zone. Comparison of sonic televiewer logs run before and after the injections showed that all permeable fractures had suffered damage and major flowing fractures had suffered dislocations of millimeters to centimeters.
A frictional population model of seismicity rate change
Authors: Gomberg J. , Reasenberg P. , Cocco M. , Belardinelli M. E.
Published: April 2005

We study models of seismicity rate changes caused by the application of a static stress perturbation to a population of faults and discuss our results with respect to the model proposed by Dieterich (1994). These models assume a distribution of nucleation sites (e.g., faults) obeying rate‐state frictional relations that fail at constant rate under tectonic loading alone, and predicts a positive static stress step at time t0 will cause an immediate increased seismicity rate that decays according to Omori's law. We show one way in which the Dieterich model may be constructed from simple general ideas, illustrated using numerically computed synthetic seismicity and mathematical formulation. We show that seismicity rate changes predicted by these models (1) depend on the particular relationship between the clock‐advanced failure and fault maturity, (2) are largest for the faults closest to failure at t0, (3) depend strongly on which state evolution law faults obey, and (4) are insensitive to some types of population heterogeneity. We also find that if individual faults fail repeatedly and populations are finite, at timescales much longer than typical aftershock durations, quiescence follows a seismicity rate increase regardless of the specific frictional relations. For the examined models the quiescence duration is comparable to the ratio of stress change to stressing rate Δτ/, which occurs after a time comparable to the average recurrence interval of the individual faults in the population and repeats in the absence of any new load perturbations; this simple model may partly explain observations of repeated clustering of earthquakes.
Multicanonical schemes for mapping out free-energy landscapes of single-component and multicomponent systems
Authors: Gospodinov Ivan D. , Escobedo Fernando A.
Published: April 2005

Multicanonical (MUCA) sampling is a powerful approach for simulating large domains of thermodynamic macrostate space that relies on mapping out either the density of states or a free energy of the system as a function of a suitable “order parameter.” The purpose of this study is to extend and apply to more complex systems the method introduced in a previous paper [M. K. Fenwick and F. A. Escobedo, J. Chem. Phys. 120, 3066 (2004)] that uses Bennett’s acceptance ratio method for estimating MUCA free energies. Four types of MUCA schemes are considered according to what order parameter is adopted and how the macrostate space is traversed: a la grand canonical ensemble, a la semigrand canonical ensemble, a la semigrand isothermal-isobaric ensemble, and a la isothermal-isobaric ensemble. Two types of systems are studied, the first is a two-component Lennard-Jones mixture that exhibits a vapor-liquid transition, and the second is a hard-cuboid containing system that exhibits an isotropic-liquid crystalline transition. These systems are simulated with different MUCA schemes and the resulting free-energy profiles are used to determine phase-coexistence conditions. For the Lennard-Jones systems, it is also demonstrated that different types of MUCA simulations can be conveniently performed over different macrostate regions and the results can be subsequently pieced together into a continuous weighting function.
Detection of flexoelectric effect from 4-heptyloxy-4′-cyanobiphenyl monolayers at an air-water interface by Maxwell displacement current and optical second harmonic generation
Authors: Yamamoto Tetsuya , Taguchi Dai , Manaka Takaaki , Iwamoto Mitsumasa
Published: April 2005

The flexoelectric effect of 4-heptyloxy-4′-cyanobiphenyl (7OCB) monolayers at the air-water interface is studied by Maxwell displacement current (MDC) and optical second harmonic generation measurements. Though MDC was expected to increase during the compression of 7OCB monolayers in L2∕L2′ phase from the MDC theory developed previously, decrease of MDC was detected in these phases. This abnormalous phenomenon is found to be due to the quench of flexoelectric effect by the flow orientation of monolayers.
Self-consistent solution of the Dyson equation for atoms and molecules within a conserving approximation
Authors: Dahlen Nils Erik , van Leeuwen Robert
Published: April 2005

We have calculated the self-consistent Green’s function for a number of atoms and diatomic molecules. This Green’s function is obtained from a conserving self-energy approximation, which implies that the observables calculated from the Green’s functions agree with the macroscopic conservation laws for particle number, momentum, and energy. As a further consequence, the kinetic and potential energies agree with the virial theorem, and the many possible methods for calculating the total energy all give the same result. In these calculations we use the finite temperature formalism and calculate the Green’s function on the imaginary time axis. This allows for a simple extension to nonequilibrium systems. We have compared the energies from self-consistent Green’s functions to those of nonselfconsistent schemes and also calculated ionization potentials from the Green’s functions by using the extended Koopmans’ theorem.
New role of the lower-hybrid drift instability in the magnetic reconnection
Authors: Ricci Paolo , Brackbill J. U. , Daughton W. , Lapenta Giovanni
Published: April 2005

Kinetic simulation results reveal that the growth of the lower-hybrid drift instability (LHDI) in current sheets has an important effect on the onset and nonlinear development of magnetic reconnection. The LHDI does this by heating electrons anisotropically, by increasing the peak current density, by producing current bifurcation, and by causing ion velocity shear. The role of these in magnetic reconnection is explained. Confidence in the results is strongly enhanced by agreement between implicit and massively-parallel-explicit particle-in-cell simulations.
Measurement of intergranular stress and porosity during dynamic compaction of porous beds of cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine
Authors: Greenaway M. W.
Published: April 2005

The dynamic compaction of granular beds of the propellant cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) has been investigated using a modified split Hopkinson pressure bar system. Intergranular stress and bed porosity were simultaneously measured during controlled loading. The importance of grain size was investigated by comparing conventional HMX (mean particle size ∼260μm) to microfine HMX (<5μm). Samples were radially confined and compression was predetermined using special end caps. Initial porosity was varied by hydraulically pressing the beds prior to testing. With large grains, resistance to compaction increased with the solid volume fraction. Microfine HMX behaved like low porosity conventional HMX beds in all cases. Porosity was typically reduced by 5%–10% during compaction and intergranular stresses below the yield stress were ensured. Energy dissipation to plastic flow and fracture were largely eliminated. Optical particle size analysis and electron microscopy support the experimental observations.
Metallic photonic crystals with strong broadband absorption at optical frequencies over wide angular range
Authors: Veronis Georgios , Dutton Robert W. , Fan Shanhui
Published: April 2005

We show theoretically that a finite two-dimensional square lattice of metallic cylinders in air can be designed to have almost 100% absorptance over a wide optical wavelength range and for a wide range of incidence angles. The broadband and wide-angle strong absorption is attributed to the presence of a large number of flat bands interacting with air bands and the greatly improved impedance matching between metallic photonic crystals and air. The frequency band of intense absorption is in the visible, ultraviolet, or near infrared, depending on the metallic material.
A fully magnetohydrodynamic simulation of three-dimensional non-null reconnection
Authors: Pontin D. I. , Galsgaard K. , Hornig G. , Priest E. R.
Published: April 2005

A knowledge of the nature of fully three-dimensional magnetic reconnection is crucial in understanding a great many processes in plasmas. It has been previously shown that in the kinematic regime the evolution of magnetic flux in three-dimensional reconnection is very different from two dimensions. In this paper a numerical fully magnetohydrodynamic simulation is described, in which this evolution is investigated. The reconnection takes place in the absence of a magnetic null point, and the nonideal region is localized in the center of the domain. The effect of differently prescribed resistivities is considered. The magnetic field is stressed by shear boundary motions, and a current concentration grows within the volume. A stagnation-point flow develops, with strong outflow jets emanating from the reconnection region. The behavior of the magnetic flux matches closely that discovered in the kinematic regime. In particular, it is found that no unique field line velocity exists, and that as a result field lines change their connections continually and continuously throughout the nonideal region. In order to describe the motion of magnetic flux within the domain, it is therefore necessary to use two different field line velocities. The importance of a component of the electric field parallel to the magnetic field is also demonstrated.
A photodriven dual-frequency addressable optical device
Authors: Hegde Gurumurthy , Nair Geetha G. , Prasad S. Krishna , Yelamaggad C. V.
Published: April 2005

We propose a photonic switch employing a liquid-crystalline material. The material exhibits a change in the sign of the dielectric anisotropy switching from a positive to a negative value at a certain crossover frequency. By application of an electric field this phenomenon can be used to alter the orientation of the sample between two orthogonal directions leading to a large change in the optical transmission characteristics of the medium. Here we demonstrate that this feature can be realized by an unpolarized ultraviolet UV beam, owing to the photoisomerization of the constituent azobenzene molecules. Possible usage of this for optically driven display devices and image-storage applications are suggested.
Exact solution for the hypergeometric Green’s function describing spectral formation in x-ray pulsars
Authors: Becker Peter A.
Published: April 2005

An eigenfunction expansion method involving hypergeometric functions is used to solve the partial differential equation governing the transport of radiation in an x-ray pulsar accretion column containing a radiative shock. The procedure yields the exact solution for the Green’s function, which describes the scattering of monochromatic radiation injected into the column from a source located near the surface of the star. Collisions between the injected photons and the infalling electrons cause the radiation to gain energy as it diffuses through the gas and gradually escapes by passing through the walls of the column. The presence of the shock enhances the energization of the radiation and creates a power-law spectrum at high energies, which is typical for a Fermi process. The analytical solution for the Green’s function provides important physical insight into the spectral formation process in x-ray pulsars, and it also has direct relevance for the interpretation of spectral data for these sources. Additional interesting mathematical aspects of the problem include the establishment of a closed-form expression for the quadratic normalization integrals of the orthogonal eigenfunctions, and the derivation of a new summation formula involving products of hypergeometric functions. By taking various limits of the general expressions, we also develop new linear and bilinear generating functions for the Jacobi polynomials.
SHEEBA: A spatial high energy electron beam analyzer
Authors: Galimberti Marco , Giulietti Antonio , Giulietti Danilo , Gizzi Leonida A.
Published: April 2005

Electron bunches with large energy and angle spread are not easy to be analyzed with conventional spectrometers. In this article, a device for the detection of high energy electrons is presented. This detector, based on the traces left by electrons on a stack of dosimetric films, together with an original numerical algorithm for traces deconvolution, is able to characterize both angularly and spectrally (up to some mega-electron-volts) a broad-spectrum electron bunch. A numerical test was successfully performed with a virtual electron beam, which was in turn reconstructed using a Montecarlo code (based on the CERN library GEANT4). Due to its simplicity and small size, the spatial high energy electron beam analyzer (SHEEBA) detector is particularly suitable to be used in laser plasma acceleration experiments.
Effect of recycled light in two-beam interferometry
Authors: Cavagnero Giovanni , Mana Giovanni , Massa Enrico
Published: April 2005

We developed a laser interferometer allowing parts per million resolution to be achieved in fringe division for the measurement of the Si (220) lattice spacing by combined x-ray and optical interferometry. With the aim of obtaining 10−9 measurement uncertainty, we pursued the study of a troublesome noise in interferometer operation and eventually identified its origin in a minute interferometer optical feedback. We investigated mathematically the feedback effect and verified predictions experimentally. Imperfect isolation and light recycling having been identified and subsequently experimentally proved, we took remedial steps in order to improve measurement capabilities. This investigation has brought into light and has made it possible to quantify an interferometer noise up to now overlooked.
Superhard nanocrystalline silicon carbide films
Authors: Liao Feng , Girshick S. L. , Mook W. M. , Gerberich W. W. , Zachariah M. R.
Published: April 2005

Nanocrystalline silicon carbide films were deposited by thermal plasma chemical vapor deposition, with film growth rates on the order of 10μm∕min. Films were deposited on molybdenum substrates, with substrate temperature ranging from 750-1250 °C. The films are composed primarily of β-SiC nanocrystallites. Film mechanical properties were investigated by nanoindentation. As substrate temperature increased the average grain size, the crystalline fraction in the film, and the hardness all increased. For substrate temperatures above 1200 °C the average grain size equaled 10-20 nm, the crystalline fraction equaled 80-85 %, and the film hardness equaled approximately 50 GPa.
Functionally distinct polymorphic sequences in the human genome that are targets for p53 transactivation
Authors: Tomso Daniel J. , Inga Alberto , Menendez Daniel , Pittman Gary S. , Campbell Michelle R. , Storici Francesca , Bell Douglas A. , Resnick Michael A.
Published: April 2005

The p53 tumor suppressor protein is a master regulatory transcription factor that coordinates cellular responses to DNA damage and cellular stress. Besides mutations in p53, or in proteins involved in the p53 response pathway, genetic variation in promoter response elements (REs) of p53 target genes is expected to alter biological responses to stress. To identify SNPs in p53 REs that may modify p53-controlled gene expression, we developed an approach that combines a custom bioinformatics search to identify candidate SNPs with functional yeast and mammalian cell assays to assess their effect on p53 transactivation. Among ≈2 million human SNPs, we identified >200 that seem to disrupt functional p53 REs. Eight of these SNPs were evaluated in functional assays to determine both the activity of the putative RE and the impact of the candidate SNPs on transactivation. All eight candidate REs were functional, and in every case the SNP pair exhibited differential transactivation capacities. Additionally, six of the eight genes adjacent to these SNPs are induced by genotoxic stress or are activated directly by transfection with p53 cDNA. Thus, this strategy efficiently identifies SNPs that may differentially affect gene expression responses in the p53 regulatory pathway.
Mechanical Strain Opens Connexin 43 Hemichannels in Osteocytes: A Novel Mechanism for the Release of Prostaglandin
Authors: Cherian Priscilla P. , Siller-Jackson Arlene J. , Gu Sumin , Wang Xin , Bonewald Lynda F. , Sprague Eugene , Jiang Jean X.
Published: April 2005

Mechanosensing bone osteocytes express large amounts of connexin (Cx)43, the component of gap junctions; yet, gap junctions are only active at the small tips of their dendritic processes, suggesting another function for Cx43. Both primary osteocytes and the osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cells respond to fluid flow shear stress by releasing intracellular prostaglandin E2(PGE2). Cells plated at lower densities release more PGE2than cells plated at higher densities. This response was significantly reduced by antisense to Cx43 and by the gap junction and hemichannel inhibitors 18 β-glycyrrhetinic acid and carbenoxolone, even in cells without physical contact, suggesting the involvement of Cx43-hemichannels. Inhibitors of other channels, such as the purinergic receptor P2X7and the prostaglandin transporter PGT, had no effect on PGE2release. Cell surface biotinylation analysis showed that surface expression of Cx43 was increased by shear stress. Together, these results suggest fluid flow shear stress induces the translocation of Cx43 to the membrane surface and that unapposed hemichannels formed by Cx43 serve as a novel portal for the release of PGE2in response to mechanical strain.
Protein Kinase A Gating of a Pseudopodial-located RhoA/ROCK/p38/NHE1 Signal Module Regulates Invasion in Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Authors: Cardone Rosa A. , Bagorda Anna , Bellizzi Antonia , Busco Giovanni , Guerra Lorenzo , Paradiso Angelo , Casavola Valeria , Zaccolo Manuela , Reshkin Stephan J.
Published: April 2005

Metastasis results from a sequence of selective events often involving interactions with elements of the tumor-specific physiological microenvironment. The low-serum component of this microenvironment confers increased motility and invasion in breast cancer cells by activating the Na+/H+exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1). The present study was undertaken to characterize the signal transduction mechanisms underlying this serum deprivation-dependent activation of both the NHE1 and the concomitant invasive characteristics such as leading edge pseudopodia development and penetration of matrigel in breast cancer cell lines representing different stages of metastatic progression. Using pharmacological and genetic manipulation together with transport and kinase activity assays, we observe that the activation of the NHE1 and subsequent invasion by serum deprivation in metastatic human breast cells is coordinated by a sequential RhoA/p160ROCK/p38MAPK signaling pathway gated by direct protein kinase A phosphorylation and inhibition of RhoA. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging of RhoA activity and immunofluorescence analysis of phospho-RhoA and NHE1 show that serum deprivation dynamically remodels the cell, forming long, leading edge pseudopodia and that this signal module is preferentially compartmentalized in these leading edge pseudopodia, suggesting a tight topographic relation of the signaling module to an invasion-specific cell structure.
Chromosomal Storage of the RNA-editing Enzyme ADAR1 in Xenopus Oocytes
Authors: Sallacz Nina B. , Jantsch Michael F.
Published: April 2005

ADARs (adenosine deaminases that act on RNA) are RNA-editing enzymes that convert adenosines to inosines in structured or double-stranded RNAs. Expression and intracellular distribution of ADAR1 is controlled by a plethora of mechanisms suggesting that enzyme activity has to be tightly regulated. Mammalian ADAR1 is a shuttling protein, whereas Xenopus ADAR1 is exclusively nuclear. In oocytes, Xenopus ADAR1 associates with most nascent transcripts but is strongly enriched at a specific site on chromosome 3, termed the special loop. Enrichment at this site requires the presence of RNAs but is independent of ongoing transcription. Here we show that RNAs transcribed elsewhere in the genome accumulate at the special loop even in the absence of transcription. In situ hybridization experiments, however, indicate the absence of known editing substrates from this site. In the absence of transcription also other RNA binding and processing factors accumulate at the special loop, suggesting that ADAR1 is stored or assembled at the special loop in an RNA-containing complex. Nuclear injection of RNAs providing binding sites for ADAR1 dissociates the enzyme from the special loop, supporting the notion that the special loop represents a site where ADAR1 is stored, possibly for later use during development.
Dedifferentiation of Adult Human Myoblasts Induced by Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor In Vitro
Authors: Chen Xiaoping , Mao Zebin , Liu Shuhong , Liu Hong , Wang Xuan , Wu Haitao , Wu Yan , Zhao Tong , Fan Wenhong , Li Yong , Yew David T. , Kindler Pawel M. , Li Linsong , He Qihua , Qian Lingjia , Wang Xiaomin , Fan Ming
Published: April 2005

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is primarily known for its important cellular effects within the nervous system. However, recent studies indicate that its receptor can be highly expressed in denervated skeletal muscle. Here, we investigated the direct effect of CNTF on skeletal myoblasts of adult human. Surprisingly, we found that CNTF induced the myogenic lineage-committed myoblasts at a clonal level to dedifferentiate into multipotent progenitor cells—they not only could proliferate for over 20 passages with the expression absence of myogenic specific factors Myf5 and MyoD, but they were also capable of differentiating into new phenotypes, mainly neurons, glial cells, smooth muscle cells, and adipocytes. These “progenitor cells” retained their myogenic memory and were capable of redifferentiating into myotubes. Furthermore, CNTF could activate the p44/p42 MAPK and down-regulate the expression of myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs). Finally, PD98059, a specific inhibitor of p44/p42 MAPK pathway, was able to abolish the effects of CNTF on both myoblast fate and MRF expression. Our results demonstrate the myogenic lineage-committed human myoblasts can dedifferentiate at a clonal level and CNTF is a novel regulator of skeletal myoblast dedifferentiation via p44/p42 MAPK pathway.
Magic and the Regulation of Piety
Authors: Styers Randall G.
Published: April 2005

This chapter traces scholarly debates concerning magic first through nineteenth-century theories concerning the origins of religion and then through various twentieth-century attempts by philosophers and social scientists to define the nature of religion. As intellectualized and privatized Enlightenment notions of religion came to define the appropriate forms for human relation to the supernatural, magic no longer designated idolatry, Satanism, or sin (as it had in medieval views of witchcraft and sorcery), but a new form of aberrational behavior, a delusion contravening appropriately rationalist, and largely Protestant, piety. Whether theorists have seen magic as designating a category distinct from (and external to) religion or as an internal subset of religion, magic has functioned to demarcate religion's limits and the bounds for appropriate religious behavior in modern liberal society. This chapter traces the normative views of human identity and power animating these scholarly formulations of magic.
Magic and the Regulation of Desire
Authors: Styers Randall G.
Published: April 2005

The chapter begins by exploring various psychological theories in which magic is seen as a product of inchoate or inordinate desire. Whether asserting that magic is socially reactionary and authoritarian or fundamentally anti-social and anarchical, theorists have regularly seen magic as a threat to a productive social order. The dominant scholarly construction of magic has legitimated two distinct channels through which human needs are to be constructed and resolved: a spiritualized religious realm (to shape certain aspects of human identity and assuage internal tensions) and a rationalized scientific realm (to govern appropriate manipulation of the material world). With magic deployed as the stigmatized mediator between religion and science, the secularizing separation between these two channels is reinforced, and capitalism and Western science are relegated broad instrumental control of the material world. Even recent scholarly efforts to reverse the negative valence of magic maintain important elements of the traditional distinctions among religion, magic, and science and reinforce the paradigm in which rationalized religion and science are aligned with capitalist social relations.
Kant's Theory of Knowledge
Authors: Dicker Georges
Published: April 2005

This book expounds, analyzes, and appraises the constructive part of Kant’s theory of knowledge, as presented in the Prefaces, Introduction, Transcendental Aesthetic, and especially the Transcendental Analytic of the Critique of Pure Reason. Drawing on the work of influential recent Kant commentators like Robert Paul Wolff, Peter F. Strawson, Paul Guyer, Jonathan Bennett, Henry Allison, and James Van Cleve, Dicker reconstructs the central argument of the Analytic that spans the first and second edition versions of the Transcendental Deduction and the Second Analogy of Experience. The book also contains detailed analyses of key sections of the Critiquethat enrich or supplement the central argument, such as the First Analogy and the Refutation of Idealism. As well, it offers balanced and detailed analyses of sections of the Critique that Kant took to be important but that are less closely tied to its central argument, including the Metaphysical Deduction, the Schematism, the Axioms of Intuition, the Anticipations of Perception, the Postulates of Empirical Thought, and the Third Analogy. Throughout the book, the writing is both rigorous and highly accessible. All the major arguments are reconstructed in numbered steps, in such a way that their premises are perspicuous and their validity easily seen by basic rules of sentential logic. The book is designed to be read as a companion to the constructive first half the Critique, and to be useful to undergraduate and graduate students studying Kant and to their professors. Its analyses of major Kantian arguments will be of interest to Kant scholars as well.
Conclusion
Authors: Rosen Christine
Published: April 2005

This conclusion summarizes the key arguments of the book, including the many assumptions it challenges about the history of eugenics and the history of American religious leaders in the early half of the 20th century. It is clear that American religious leaders embraced eugenics when they departed from the traditional tenets of their faith, and that they did so in an effort to find new methods of social reform to suit a time of often-bewildering social and cultural change. This chapter also ties the history of eugenics to current debates in bioethics, revealing the continuities and discontinuities in hereditarian thinking from the previous century into the present. It is argued that the peculiar history of eugenics in the United States in the early-to-mid 20th century has fundamentally shaped the way genetic technologies is discussed in the twenty-first century. An understanding of that history — particularly the history of the ethical and theological debates that occurred — is necessary as we enter a new era of genetic science.
Competing in the Information Age
Authors: Luftman Jerry N.
Published: April 2005

This book presents a new set of practical and powerful tools to help business get the full benefit from their information technology (IT) investments. It addresses how organizations can work together to improve business performance. It elaborates on the approach for assessing the maturity of IT-business alignment; once maturity is understood, businesses can identify opportunities for enhancing the harmonious relationship of business and IT. The book is divided into eight parts, with parts II-VII focusing on the six strategic alignment maturity assessment criteria.
Recognizing the Functionality of the Future
Authors: Luftman James C. , Browne Glenn J.
Published: April 2005

Building sustainable competitive advantage in the future requires organizations to discover the functionality users need and want. To do this successfully, they must harness IT to help gather user requirements in innovative ways. This chapter discusses the ways to gather information, and the future challenges organizations face.
Intra Enterprise Integration
Authors: Stohr Edward A. , Nickerson Jeffrey V.
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines enterprise integration at two levels: the systems level and organizational level. It presents a framework that encompasses both system and organizational integration. It then discusses the system level of integration, major mechanisms and architecture choices, and future trends in enterprise integration.
Competing Through Information Privacy
Authors: Chan Yolande
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines how privacy issues affect the contemporary management of information and information systems. It discusses privacy as an IT alignment issue, information privacy strategy, and privacy as competitive advantage. Privacy represents a major challenge for businesses that needs to be addressed in terms of firm strategy and alignment. Privacy as competitive advantage requires that customers value at a minimum, and are willing to pay for, at a maximum, the careful, ethical, treatment of their information.
Competing in Mobile Business
Authors: Jarvenpaa Sirkka , Tomak Kerem
Published: April 2005

Wireless technologies extend a firm’s transactions from a stationary space to a mobile space. Transactions and communications that take place in the mobile space, i.e. wireless Internet infrastructure, are defined as m-business. This chapter discusses how m-business services generate new business value. It presents a case study on Japan’s NTT DoCoMo i-mode, which introduced a new suite of multimedia services, new forms of connecting buyers and sellers to markets, and new incentives for customers to cocreate value.
What Is the Hajj and How Does Anyone Survive It?
Authors: Bianchi Robert R.
Published: April 2005

The hajj is a grueling and perilous march. Even the most self-reliant pilgrims realize that being closer to God also brings them closer to death, and the ones most likely to survive are those who help one another. The hajj works because of the good sense and mutual support of the pilgrims, not because of the staggering resources their governments marshal to assist and control them. The decisive factor is the pilgrims’ self-control and mutual cooperation. When they pull together they usually muddle through the thousands of breakdowns in order and services confronting them each day, but when they fall apart, nothing else really matters and no one can save them from disaster.
Turkey
Authors: Bianchi Robert R.
Published: April 2005

Since Turkey became a democracy in 1950, the hajj has blossomed into an emotionally charged symbol of conflict between a Muslim society and a supposedly secular state. Ongoing debate over the hajj illustrates the malleability of Turkish secularism and its endless capacity to divide the nation. Because of hostility from hard-line followers of Ataturk and bickering among right-wing politicians, Turkey created one of the most volatile pilgrimages in the world–and one of the most politicized. A series of pro-Muslim governments led by S\'fcleyman Demirel, Necmettin Erbakan, and Turgut \'d6zal transformed the Directorate of Religious Affairs from a state watchdog over Islam into a powerful interest group dispensing benefits to voters and businesses in key constituencies throughout Anatolia.
Spirit, Air, and Quicksilver
Authors: Chang Hasok
Published: April 2005

The establishment of the fixed points of thermometry allowed the creation of numerical thermometers by finding a procedure for assigning numbers to the degrees of heat between fixed point and beyond them. This chapter discusses efforts to establish the numerical scale. This problem involved a deep philosophical challenge, which was overcome after more than a century of debates and experiments.
Myths of Divinity
Authors: FISHBANE MICHAEL
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines ancient texts on God’s expressions of sorrow or anguish, whether in response to Israel’s suffering or as a matter of personal loss or distress. It is shown that rabbinic midrash has overcome all biblical restraint and silence on this theme, and repeatedly evokes the mythic image of a lamenting and tearful God. This subject is approached under three headings, expressing three modes of divine response to the destruction of the Temple and suffering of the people: memory and mourning, sympathy and sorrow, and desolation and despair. Rabbinic interfusion of myth and history is realized differently in each type.
Europe Undivided
Authors: Vachudova Milada Anna
Published: April 2005

The quality of political competition at the moment of transition explains the divergence in the domestic trajectories of East European states, steering Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic towards liberal democracy, and Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia towards illiberal democracy after 1989. From 1989 to 1994, the European Union (EU) exerted only passive leverage on its democratizing neighbours, reinforcing liberal strategies of reform but failing to avert illiberal ones. After 1995, the EU exerted active leverage on the domestic politics of credible future members through the enlargement process. The benefits and requirements of EU membership, combined with the structure of the EU’s pre-accession process, interacted with domestic factors to improve the quality of political competition and to accelerate political and economic reforms in candidate states. The enlargement of the EU has thus promoted a convergence towards liberal democracy across the region. I unpack the consequences of the pre-accession process for the quality of democracy in the new members, the dynamics of the negotiations between the old members and the candidates, and the impact of the 2004 enlargement on the future of European integration. I conclude by exploring the usefulness of the EU’s active leverage in promoting liberal democracy in other prospective members such as Turkey and the states of the Western Balkans, and the trade-offs of further enlargements for the EU itself. The most successful tool of EU foreign policy has turned out to be EU enlargement—and this book helps us understand why and how it works.
The Active Leverage of the European Union
Authors: Vachudova Milada Anna
Published: April 2005

This chapter presents a theoretical framework for the EU’s active leverage, defined as the EU’s deliberate efforts to promote reform in candidate states moving towards EU membership. Active leverage is animated by the fact that the benefits of membership create incentives for states to satisfy the entry requirements, setting the stage for the effectiveness of conditionality within the EU’s pre-accession process. Three characteristics of this process make it particularly powerful: asymmetric interdependence, enforcement, and meritocracy. This chapter explores the origins of the EU’s pre-accession process, unpacks the requirements of membership, and details all of the different tools that enable the EU to exercise conditionality within the process. It compares the EU’s active leverage to the efforts of NATO, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to promote democratic standards and economic reform in Eastern Europe's new democracies.
The Impact of Active Leverage II: Reforming the State and the Economy, 1997–2004
Authors: Vachudova Milada Anna
Published: April 2005

In all candidate states, the EU’s active leverage forced governments to embark on politically difficult reforms of the state and of the economy, committing politicians to a predictable agenda of economic liberalization. This happened not only because of straightforward conditionality but also because the pre-accession process served as a credible commitment to economic reform and as an impetus for the growth of pro-EU groups in society. The Czech Republic stands out as a hybrid case that experienced a greater concentration (and abuse) of political and economic power than Poland or Hungary, forcing it to change more dramatically in response to the EU’s active leverage. In the post-illiberal states, keeping ruling elites within the parameters set by the EU’s pre-accession process while locking all mainstream political parties into a pro-EU orientation signifies a great success. This chapter analyses the convergence of domestic politics in Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania after more liberal elites took power, and also explains the significant and persistent variation in the performance of the three states in implementing comprehensive reforms.
World Without Design
Authors: Rea Michael C.
Published: April 2005

Philosophical naturalism has dominated the Western academy for well over a century. However, there is an important sense in which naturalism's status as orthodoxy is without rational foundation. Furthermore, the costs of embracing it are surprisingly high. The goal of this book is to defend these two claims, with special attention to the second. The first part of the book aims to provide a fair and historically informed characterization of naturalism. The second part argues for the striking thesis that naturalists are committed to rejecting realism about material objects, materialism, and perhaps realism about other minds. The book concludes with an examination of two alternative research programmes – intuitionism and supernaturalism – and argues that, under certain circumstances, intuitionism is self‐defeating.
1 Introduction
Authors: Rea Michael C.
Published: April 2005

Introduces several of the concepts and assumptions that will occupy center stage in the book's main argument. In particular, introduces the notion of a research programme, and provides characterizations of realism about material objects and its rival, constructivism. Also defends the conclusion that it is impossible to adopt a research programme on the basis of evidence. This constitutes the author's argument for the conditional claim that if naturalism is a research programme, its status as orthodoxy is without rational foundation. Introduces the central thesis of the book – that naturalists are committed to rejecting realism about material objects, materialism, and perhaps realism about other minds – and goes on to provide a brief outline of the remaining chapters.
Conclusion
Authors: Brekke Torkel
Published: April 2005

Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains in India were in the midst of redefining what it meant to belong to their communities by the end of the 19th century. This occurred within the confines set by the English language, and European ideas of religion, history, societies, and nations. It is argued that the new role of religion that emerged in the 19th century had major implications for political life in the 20th century in South Asia. They also laid the foundation for different types of religious nationalism and communalism in South Asia.
War and the Common Life
Authors: Rodin David
Published: April 2005

This chapter examines the suggestion that national-defence is a right held by states and is principally grounded in the end of defending the common life of the community, rather than the lives of individual citizens. It argues that grounding national self-defence in an account of the value of common life is as problematic as the attempt to ground it in the end of protecting individual persons. National-defence cannot be reduced to a collective application of personal rights of self-defence, nor explained as a state-held right analogous to personal self-defence.
Reasons Internalism 7
Authors: Shafer-Landau Russ
Published: April 2005

Discusses the varieties of internalism about reasons, and argues against the most powerful arguments on its behalf, including those offered by Bernard Williams and Christine Korsgaard. Provides two arguments to favour externalism about reasons.