bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
John Stuart Mill and the Antagonistic Foundation of Liberal Politics
Authors: Turner Brandon P. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe agonistic critique of liberalism argues that liberal theory unwisely eliminates conflict from the design of liberal-democratic institutions and understandings of liberal citizenship. John Stuart Mill anticipates and resolves the agonistic critique by incorporating several theories of antagonism into his political theory. At the institutional level, Mill places two antagonisms at the center of his political theory: the tension between the popular and bureaucratic elements in representative government, on the one hand, and that between the democratic and aristocratic elements in modern society, on the other. These tensions guarantee the fluidity of the political sphere. At the experiential level, Mill's embrace of antagonism is even more complete, as he argues that even our objectively correct opinions must be ceaselessly contested to become properlyours. The theory that emerges is both agonistic and liberal; further, it calls into question current liberal attitudes concerning conflict and antagonism.
Nietzsche's Tragic Realism
Authors: Kirkland Paul E. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractWhether in the service of aristocratic radicalism or radical democracy, Nietzsche's political thought has most often been associated with transformation rather than limitations. This paper argues that Nietzsche offers a realism that presents politics as driven by grand aspirations and bound by tragic limitations. Nietzsche draws on Thucydides as a source for a realism that is neither reductionist nor transformative, but rather looks to the grandest of human aspirations and the limits to those aspirations. The paper analyzes Nietzsche's treatment of the character of modern idealism, the source of conflicting values, the effects of liberalism, and the consequences of democratic modernity in order to flesh out his tragic realism. Rather than advocating the tyrannical decay he expects in the short term, Nietzsche points the way to a new politics shaped by grander goals and more moderate expectations than the idealistic leveling of modernity.
Institutional Performance and Compliance with EU Law: Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia
Authors: Falkner Gerda 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis article compares the performance of state institutions and compliance with EU law in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. The public institutions highlighted are of crucial relevance when it comes to enforcing EU social standards and include the court and legal systems as well as labour inspectorates and equal treatment authorities. Expert and practitioner assessments point to major shortcomings in their institutional performance. The procedural compliance pattern to which these shortcomings give rise closely resembles that found by previous studies in some Western European countries, notably Ireland and Italy. Thus, the four countries examined here fall within a ‘world of dead letters’ as far as their compliance with EU law is concerned. In this ‘world’, EU directives tend to be transposed in a politicised mode (although so far, this happened rather timely and correctly) and there is frequent non-compliance at the later stages of monitoring and enforcement.
Political Power, Fiscal Institutions and Budgetary Outcomes in Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: HALLERBERG MARK , YLÄOUTINEN SAMI 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis paper considers the effects of fiscal governance in Central and East European countries 1998–2008. The first part makes predictions about which form of fiscal governance fits which form of government. Under multi-party coalition governments, fiscal contracts where governments make political commitments to multi-annual fiscal plans work well. In countries where two political blocks face off against one another, delegation based around a strong finance ministry should be most effective. The second part examines electoral and party systems, which affect the form of government in place. The third part documents norms, rules, and institutions in place. The final section considers the joint effects of fiscal governance on fiscal outcomes. On balance, the underlying political climate is crucial for determining what types of fiscal norms, institutions, and rules function best. The more countries diverge from their expected form of fiscal governance, the greater the increase in a country's debt burden.
Performing to Type? How State Institutions Matter in East Central Europe
Authors: ZUBEK RADOSLAW , GOETZ KLAUS H. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractWhile there is much research on the developmental trajectories of post-Communist state institutions and the external and domestic influences that have shaped their paths, much less is known about institutional performance, that is, the manner in which institutions operate and the extent to which they produce predictable patterns of effects. Academic analysis has been reluctant to shift attention from institutionalisation to effects, not least because of the fluidity of many formal institutions. The present article documents that over the last decade state institutions in East Central Europe have increasingly stabilized, especially at the macro-institutional level. The analysis highlights insights from institutional theory – notably how degrees, time, preferences and resources matter – to encourage further research in the field.
Political Institutions and Policy Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: JAHN DETLEF , MÜLLER-ROMMEL FERDINAND 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe impact of political institutions on policy performance has been a major research question in studies of advanced democracies. This study analyzes the effects of institutions and political actors on economic, social and environmental policies in ten Central Eastern European countries from 1995 to 2004. Using time-series-cross section (TSCS) regression analysis, this study shows that the impact of institutional veto players on policy output is more significant than international pressure. Moreover, the communist legacy has a much higher effect on policy output than expected.
Factors affecting knowledge sharing in the radiotherapy department: the radiation physics team as a community of practice
Authors: Armoogum K. , Buchgeister M. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractWe put forward the concept of the radiotherapy physics team as a community of practice (COP). Radiotherapy physicists are required to continuously develop their scientific, computational and management competencies. Much of this knowledge is gained through peer-to-peer interaction in a structured environment, enabling the individual to increase their tacit knowledge. Such interaction among peers will allow issues to be framed within their context, information to be shared, decisions to be made and protocols to be developed. The structure that allows physicists to create, share and manage knowledge conforms to the accepted definition of a COP. By implementing the methods of literature review and peer group survey, we have investigated the applicability of the concept of a radiotherapy physics COP. The results of the survey have shown a generally positive medical physicist training outlook in the UK and Germany, but highlighted certain areas where improvement is needed. Our surveys have shown that while most trainees are adequately supported, there are two areas where improvements can easily be made. Spatial factors, such as departmental geography, may not always be conducive to knowledge sharing but can readily be altered in most cases. The paucity of departmental seminars and journal club meetings has been highlighted as a problem at some training centres.
Why England and not China and India? Water systems and the history of the Industrial Revolution
Authors: Tvedt Terje 
Published: February 2010

AbstractGlobal history has centred for a long time on the comparative economic successes and failures of different parts of the world, most often European versus Asian regions. There is general agreement that the balance changed definitively in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when in continental Europe and England a transformation began that revolutionized the power relations of the world and brought an end to the dominance of agrarian civilization. However, there is still widespread debate over why Europe and England industrialized first, rather than Asia. This article will propose an explanation that will shed new light on Europe’s and England’s triumph, by showing that the ‘water system’ factor is a crucial piece missing in existing historical accounts of the Industrial Revolution. It is argued that this great transformation was not only about modernizing elites, investment capital, technological innovation, and unequal trade relations, but that a balanced, inclusive explanation also needs to consider similarities and differences in how countries and regions related to their particular water systems, and in how they could exploit them for transport and the production of power for machines.
A poke into the diversity and associations within human anterior nare microbial communities
Authors: Wos-Oxley Melissa L , Plumeier Iris , von Eiff Christof , Taudien Stefan , Platzer Matthias , Vilchez-Vargas Ramiro , Becker Karsten , Pieper Dietmar H 
Published: February 2010

Abstract
The anterior nares are the major reservoir for Staphylococcus aureus in humans, where nasal carriage has a crucial function as a source for invasive infections. Despite various investigations on aerobic community members based on traditional cultivation methods, little is known on the overall microbial composition and complex in situ interactions, but such knowledge is highly warranted for effective S. aureus control strategies. As assessed using advanced culture-independent approaches, this study provides a comprehensive survey of the anterior nare bacterial community of 40 individuals. Previously undiscovered co-colonization patterns and natural variations in species composition were revealed and provide insights for future intervention strategies for the control of health-care- and community-associated S. aureus infections.
Amorphous Ca-phosphate precursors for Ca-carbonate biominerals mediated by Chromohalobacter marismortui
Authors: Rivadeneyra María Angustias , Martín-Algarra Agustín , Sánchez-Román Mónica , Sánchez-Navas Antonio , Martín-Ramos José Daniel 
Published: February 2010

Abstract
Although diverse microbial metabolisms are known to induce the precipitation of carbonate minerals, the mechanisms involved in the bacterial mediation, in particular nucleation, are still debated. The study of aragonite precipitation by Chromohalobacter marismortui during the early stages (3–7 days) of culture experiments, and its relation to bacterial metabolic pathways, shows that: (1) carbonate nucleation occurs after precipitation of an amorphous Ca phosphate precursor phase on bacterial cell surfaces and/or embedded in bacterial films; (2) precipitation of this precursor phase results from local high concentrations of PO43− and Ca2+ binding around bacterial cell envelopes; and (3) crystalline nanoparticles, a few hundred nanometres in diametre, form after dissolution of precursor phosphate globules, and later aggregate, allowing the accretion of aragonite bioliths.
Spatial structure and persistence of methanogen populations in humic bog lakes
Authors: Milferstedt Kim , Youngblut Nicholas D , Whitaker Rachel J 
Published: February 2010

Abstract
Patterns of diversity within methanogenic archaea in humic bog lakes are quantified over time and space to determine the roles that spatial isolation and seasonal mixing play in structuring microbial populations. The protein encoding gene mcrA is used as a molecular marker for the detection of fine-scale differences between methanogens in four dimictic bog lakes in which the water column is mixed twice a year and one meromictic lake that is permanently stratified. Although similar sequences are observed in each bog lake, each lake has its own characteristic set of persisting sequence types, indicating that methanogen populations are delimited either by low migration between the anaerobic hypolimnia or by lake-specific selection. The meromictic lake is differentiated from all other lakes and contains sequences with a higher degree of microdiversity than the dimictic lakes. By relating the structure of diversity to the depth of each bog lake, we propose the hypothesis that the deeper parts of the water column favor microdiversification of methanogens, whereas the periodically disturbed water column of shallower dimictic lakes promote genetically more diverse methanogen communities.
Bacterial gene abundances as indicators of greenhouse gas emission in soils
Authors: Morales Sergio E , Cosart Theodore , Holben William E 
Published: February 2010

Abstract
Nitrogen fixing and denitrifying bacteria, respectively, control bulk inputs and outputs of nitrogen in soils, thereby mediating nitrogen-based greenhouse gas emissions in an ecosystem. Molecular techniques were used to evaluate the relative abundances of nitrogen fixing, denitrifying and two numerically dominant ribotypes (based on the ⩾97% sequence similarity at the 16S rRNA gene) of bacteria in plots representing 10 agricultural and other land-use practices at the Kellogg biological station long-term ecological research site. Quantification of nitrogen-related functional genes (nitrite reductase, nirS; nitrous oxide reductase, nosZ; and nitrogenase, nifH) as well as two dominant 16S ribotypes (belonging to the phyla Acidobacteria, Thermomicrobia) allowed us to evaluate the hypothesis that microbial community differences are linked to greenhouse gas emissions under different land management practices. Our results suggest that the successional stages of the ecosystem are strongly linked to bacterial functional group abundance, and that the legacy of agricultural practices can be sustained over decades. We also link greenhouse gas emissions with specific compositional responses in the soil bacterial community and assess the use of denitrifying gene abundances as proxies for determining nitrous oxide emissions from soils.
Attention in the Brain and Early Infancy
Authors: Richards John E. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter reviews the hypothesis that changes in brain areas controlling attention strongly influence the development of attention in infant participants. It examines the methodological advances in imaging showing what is inside the infant's head and how to measure brain activity in infant participants. It focuses on work using cortical source analysis of event related potentials (ERP) in the spatial cueing procedure as an example of how this might be done. The goal of research in this area is to link measures of infant brain development and measures of attention development.
All Together Now: Learning through Multiple Sources
Authors: Kirkham Natasha 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter describes a theory of multiple cue integration, supporting the acquisition of complex knowledge. The “great blooming, buzzing confusion” of the perceptual world actually holds a wealth of information for an infant in the form of statistical structure and cross-modal regularities. It also contains many distractions, in terms of noise and extraneous information. When learning about the world, how do infants pay attention to the right set of multiple cues at the right time? This theory posits a developmental trajectory out of this problem: At early ages, infants rely on multiple, cross-modal cues in learning about sequences and locations; later on, they are better able to ignore unhelpful information and learn from a narrower set of cues.
Perceptual Completion in Infancy
Authors: Johnson Scott P. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter describes a set of object perception skills that develop early in infancy, focusing on three ways in which observers fill in the gaps in perception imposed by occlusion: spatial completion, spatiotemporal completion, and 3D object completion. It describes experiments designed to examine developmental mechanisms of perceptual completion in infants. The best evidence to date suggests that newborn infants do not fill in the gaps in perception, and therefore do not perceive objects as do adults. Instead, the visual world of neonates seems to consist solely of surface fragments that have no substance, volume, or continuity. Infants initially appear to process complex stimuli as simple isolated units, and subsequently integrate them into higher-order patterns.
Numerical Identity and the Development of Object Permanence
Authors: Moore M. Keith , Meltzoff Andrew N. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter proposes an identity development (ID) account of object permanence that locates the origins and development of permanence in infants' notions of how to determine and trace numerical identity. The arguments and evidence generated from this approach suggest a number of conclusions: (a) object permanence understanding is not an all-or-none attainment; (b) permanence is understood for some disappearance transforms but not others; (c) the development of infants' spatiotemporal criteria for numerical identity provide the form and ordering of the disappearance transforms over which they understand permanence; (d) apparent violations of permanence can cause negative emotion; and (e) taking seriously the conceptual distinctions between representation, identity, and permanence offers considerable theoretical power. The chapter presents a mechanism of change to account for the transition from having no concept of permanence to having permanence.
Connectionist Explorations of Multiple-Cue Integration in Syntax Acquisition
Authors: Christiansen Morten H. , Dale Rick , Reali Florencia 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter hypothesizes that integrating multiple probabilistic cues (phonological, prosodic, and distributional) by perceptually attuned general-purpose learning mechanisms, may hold promise for explaining how children solve the bootstrapping problem. Multiple cues can provide reliable evidence about linguistic structure that is unavailable from any single source of information. The chapter first reviews empirical evidence suggesting that infants may use a combination of phonological, prosodic, and distributional cues to bootstrap into syntax. It then reports a series of simulations demonstrating the computational efficacy of multiple-cue integration within a connectionist framework.
Musical Enculturation: How Young Listeners Construct Musical Knowledge through Perceptual Experience
Authors: Hannon Erin E. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter explores the question of how infants and children build musical representations, with particular focus on perception, and knowledge of temporal structure in music, such as rhythm and meter. It reviews published and new evidence that infants can perceive rhythm and meter by attending to the same statistical properties that underlie adults' perception, that representations of rhythm and meter undergo reorganization as a result of culture-specific perceptual experience, and that infants and adults share some basic temporal processing constraints despite infants' initial flexibility. In addition to examining development of music-specific knowledge, a parallel goal is to understand the emergence of domain-specific representations in auditory cognition. If we assume that early representations of music are primarily domain-general and become culture-specific through perceptual experience, then a question of great interest is whether overlapping structures are present and detected in the musical and linguistic input available to infants and children. The chapter briefly reviews some new evidence suggesting that this is may be the case.
Integrating Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches to Children’s Causal Inference
Authors: Sobel David M. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter suggests a description of causal inference based on Bayesian inference, which illustrates how children engage in causal learning. This description is meant at the computational level of analysis, which means that an obvious limitation of this approach is that it should not be taken for the actual algorithm by which children learn causal knowledge, nor should it be considered how the brain instantiates such inference. However, describing the way in which children learn causal knowledge provides insight into these questions.
The Acquisition of Expertise as a Model for the Growth of Cognitive Structure
Authors: Quinn Paul C. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter begins by asking whether infants can form category representations for nonhuman animals, via what stimulus attributes such representations might be formed, and whether infants are forming these category representations on the basis of stimulus images presented in the laboratory. It then discusses whether infants categorize humans, and whether the category structure that infants use to represent humans differs from the structure they use to represent nonhuman animals. Also considered will be the stimulus information infants use to represent humans, as well as whether infants respond to human images presented in the laboratory based on knowledge about humans acquired prior to arrival at the laboratory. The chapter concludes with the thesis that what infants know about nonhuman animals can be likened to what novices know about generic object categories, whereas what infants know about humans can be likened to what experts know about their domain of expertise.
Building Intentional Action Knowledge with One’s Hands
Authors: Gerson Sarah , Woodward Amanda 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter considers the potential origins of the ability to discern others' intentions in acting. It focuses on a category of experience that has long been hypothesized to contribute to intentional understanding: namely, first-person agentive experience. Theoretically, it seems reasonable that one's own experience as an agent could provide useful information for understanding other agents. A true test of this general hypothesis requires (1) measuring infants' analysis of observed action structure and (2) relating this measure to variations in infants' own actions. The chapter turns first to recent studies that have done just this, and in so doing provided initial evidence that this general proposal is on the right track. It then turns to the much harder question of why self-produced experience might have an effect on the development of action understanding. This question will leads to the consideration of recent work on mirror systems, the limits of mirror systems, and the role of analogy in conceptual development.
A Neoconstructivistic Approach to the Emergence of a Face Processing System
Authors: Simion Francesca , Leo Irene 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis chapter examines (1) whether some constraints or prewired attentional biases are present at birth; (2) if these constraints are general or specific; and (3) how they contribute to guide and shape cognitive activity. In order to address these issues, a peculiar class of visual stimuli, namely faces, will be taken into consideration, because faces form a special class of visual objects elaborated in adults by a specific face system. The first part of the chapter focuses on the mechanisms underlying infants' visual preference for faces, and on the visuoperceptual constraints that induce newborns to prefer faces. The second part of the chapter reviews the studies on the nature of the information newborns actually process and encode when they look at faces as compared to nonface stimuli; more specifically, whether the recognition of faces at birth requires the same nonspecific generalized perceptual abilities that are involved in processing all types of visual stimuli.