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Weltweit ist der Galoppsport ein kapitalintensiver Wirtschaftszweig, der kontinuierlich
Zuchtbemühungen für optimal erfolgreiche Nachkommenschaft in den Mittelpunkt all seiner
Anstrengungen stellt. Dabei fällt auf, dass ähnlich intensive Bemühungen im
trainingsmethodologischen und -analytischen Bereich im Hinblick auf Leistungsoptimierung
der Vollblut-Rennpferde fast vollständig fehlen.
Die Motivation zur vorliegenden Studie lag einerseits in der langjährigen Beobachtung
„stabiler“ konventioneller Trainingsstrukturen in deutschen und internationalen Rennställen
sowie andererseits in der Dokumentaranalyse weltweit hochklassiger renommierter Rennen,
deren Ergebnisse seit mehr als 90 Jahren keinen Leistungsfortschritt, sondern
Geschwindigkeitsstagnation verzeichnen. ...
Die Untersuchung von RNA mittels NMR-Spektroskopie hat in den letzten Jahren an Bedeutung gewonnen, weil die Zahl der neu entdeckten RNA-Funktionen, wie z.B. RNA-Schalter in Bakterien, stark gestiegen ist. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, mithilfe der NMR-Spektroskopie einen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der biochemischen Prozesse, in die RNA-Moleküle involviert sein können, zu leisten.
Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit (Kapitel 2, 3 und 4) werden zum einen die Entwicklung neuer Methoden für die RNA-Strukturbestimmung vorgestellt und zum anderen die Leistungsfähigkeit der modernen NMR-spektroskopischen Strukturaufklärung demonstriert.
Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit (Kapitel 5) wird die NMR-Spektroskopie zur Untersuchung der RNA-Schalter-Funktion eingesetzt. Die biologische Funktion von RNA oder Proteinen setzt oftmals eine dynamische Struktur voraus und involviert Konformationsänderungen infolge biochemischer Signalweiterleitung. Für die Charakterisierung solcher Prozesse eignet sich die NMR-Spektroskopie insbesondere gut, weil sie in Lösung unter verschiedenen Reaktionsbedingungen angewandt wer-den kann. Durch den direkten NMR-spektroskopischen Nachweis von Basenpaarungen können wichtige strukturelle Eigenschaften (Faltung, Strukturhomogenität und Dynamik) entschlüsselt und in einen Zusammenhang mit der Funktion gebracht werden.
Im Folgenden werden die einzelnen Kapitel vorgestellt.
Nachdem das erste Kapitel eine allgemeine Einleitung in die NMR-Spektroskopie, RNA-Struktur und Funktion der RNA-Schalter darstellt, folgt im Kapitel 2 die Einführung einer neuen Methode, die eine quantitative Bestimmung der Torsionswinkel alpha und zeta in RNA/DNA mittels NMR-Spektroskopie ermöglicht (Abb. 1). Sie basiert auf der Wechselwirkung zwischen dem CH-Dipol und der 31P-CSA, die von der relativen Orientierung abhängig ist. Die Methode wurde für die CH- und CH2-Gruppen in Form von zwei Pulssequenzen (2D- und 3D-G-HCP) zur Messung von insgesamt fünf kreuz-korrelierten Relaxationsraten entlang des RNA/DNA-Rückgrats optimiert. Die Funktionsfähigkeit der Methode wurde zunächst an der 14mer cUUCGg-Tetraloop RNA getestet und zur Bestimmung der Torsionswinkel alpha und zeta genutzt. Die Ergebnisse flossen in die Strukturrechnung der 14mer RNA, die im Kapitel 3 vorgestellt wird, mit ein. Des Weiteren gelang es die Anwendbarkeit der Experimente an einer größeren 27mer RNA zu demonstrieren. Die neue Methode ist deswegen von Bedeutung, weil die Winkel alpha und zeta nicht über 3J-Kopplungskonstanten gemessen werden können.
(Nozinovic, S., Richter, C., Rinnenthal, J., Fürtig, B., Duchardt-Ferner, E., Weigand, J. E., Schwalbe, H. (2010), J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 10318-10329.)
Im Kapitel 3 wird die NMR-spektroskopische Bestimmung der Struktur einer Model-RNA, der 14mer cUUCGg-Tetraloop RNA, vorgestellt. Die Strukturrechung wurde mit verschiedenen NMR-Datensätzen, die in der Arbeitsgruppe einschließlich dieser Doktorarbeit gesammelt wurden, durchgeführt. Zusammen mit den Ergebnissen aus dem Kapitel 2 konnte eine sehr präzise Struktur mit einem RMSD von 0,37 Å (20 Strukturen) in sehr guter Übereinstimmung mit experimentellen Daten ermittelt werden. Die gerechnete Struktur repräsentiert eine der gegenwärtig genauesten und umfassendsten Strukturbestimmungen einer RNA, bei der jeder Torsionswinkel quantitativ bestimmt wurde. Einen besonderen Höhepunkt stellt die strukturelle Analyse der 2’OH-Gruppen dar, die im anschließenden Kapitel 4 weiter vertieft wurde.
(Nozinovic, S., Fürtig, B., Jonker, H. R. A., Richter, C., Schwalbe, H. (2010), Nucleic Acids Res. 38, 683-694)
Über Jahre war bekannt, dass die Größe der 1J(C1’,H1’)- und 1J(C2’,H2’)-Kopplungskonstanten innerhalb der Ribonukleotide von der lokalen Struktur des Zuckers und der Orientierung der Nukleobase beeinflusst wird. In dieser Arbeit (Kapitel 4) wurde zum ersten Mal ein systematischer Vergleich zwischen NMR-Messungen und DFT-Rechnungen durchgeführt, der eine eindeutige Zuordnung der Hauptkonformationen des Zuckers (C3’- oder C2’-endo) und der Nukleobase (anti oder syn) anhand der 1J(C,H)-Kopplungskonstanten erlaubt. Die beschriebene Methode wurde an einer größeren 27mer RNA erfolgreich erprobt. Weiterhin wurde erstmalig entdeckt, dass zudem die Orientierung der 2’OH-Gruppe einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die 1J(C,H)-Kopplungen hat (Abb. 3). Mithilfe von NMR-Messungen und DFT-Rechnungen konnte aus 1J(C,H)-Kopplungskonstanten die Orientierung von allen 2’OH-Gruppen in der 14mer cUUCGg-Tetraloop RNA bestimmt werden. Die Methode hat den großen Vorteil, dass 2’OH-Gruppen, die aufgrund des schnellen Austauschs mit Wasser oder D2O keine NMR-Signale liefern, analysiert werden kön-nen.
(Nozinovic, S., Gupta, P., Fürtig, B., Richter, C., Tüllmann, S., Duchardt-Ferner, E., Holthausen, M. C., Schwalbe, H. (2011), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 5397-5400)
Im Kapitel 5 wird eine NMR-spektroskopische Untersuchung an der Aptamerdomäne des Adenin-bindenden RNA-Schalters (pbuE) vorgestellt. Im Fokus der Forschung stand die Frage: Welchen Einfluss hat die Länge der P1-Helix auf die Struktur und die Ligandbindung der freien Aptamer-domäne?
Durch den Vergleich von zwei Konstrukten mit unterschiedlich langer P1-Helix war es möglich, intrinsische Scherkräfte, die durch die Ausbildung der P1-Helix in der freien Aptamerdomäne entstehen, festzustellen. Es hat sich im Konstrukt mit der verlängerten P1-Helix gezeigt, dass diese zur Destabilisierung der P3-Helix und des Schlaufenkontakts führen. Diese strukturellen Änderungen haben außerdem zur Folge, dass die Bindungsstärke des Liganden reduziert wird. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein strukturelles Gleichgewicht zwischen Sekundärstrukturelementen die tertiäre Faltung beeinflusst und die Funktion moduliert.
(Nozinovic, S., Reining, A., Noeske, J., Wöhnert, J., Schwalbe, H. (2011), in Vorbereitung)
The present study focuses on specific aspects in the organization of teaching religion in Indonesia. It analyses the position of religion within the Indonesian Basic Law, consequential legislation, and educational policies. How does this framework translate into national and regional policies pertaining to the emergence, institutionalization, and organization of the Hindu class and the Hindu education system in Bali from 1945 to 2008?
Muslim majority Indonesia constitutes an interesting laboratory for doing fundamental research on religious plurality and transformations of religion. The model of organizing the religion class in Indonesia is rooted in a specific historical, socio-cultural, political, and legal context, which is fundamentally different to European models of religious education. In addition, in contrast to classical Islam and modern Islamic states, Indonesia recognizes Asian religions as equal in status with the religions of the book. Besides Islam and Christianity, Hindu Dharma and Buddhism were recognized as state funded religions in 1965. This recognition had important consequences for the Indonesian model of organizing five confessional religion classes and faith-based education systems.
The Balinese are a rare case of a religious and ethnic minority being simultaneously an ethnic and religious majority. Therefore, the Balinese provide an outstanding case to analyze how Indonesia’s religious and educational policies do deal with that particular ethnic and religious minority. In addition, how do the Balinese themselves use the constitutional and legal framework to establish the Hindu religion class in public schools and a private Hindu education system from the level of pre-school to higher education?
A qualitative examination was conducted basing on a combination of theoretical and empirical investigations. The province of Bali and three educational institutions were chosen, because the Balinese were the reformers of Indonesian Hindu Dharma and the inventors of the Hindu education system. As the study focuses on constitutional and legal contexts of the Hindu class and the Hindu education system, teachers’ professional education, and composition of curricula and textbooks, a qualitative approach was applied combining ethnographic fieldwork and case study research. In consequence, the subject positions the study in the academic disciplines of Religious Studies and Area Studies. Data were collected through bibliographical surveys and fieldwork.
The amended 1945 Basic Law and consequential legislation give the same right to state sanctioned religions. The state is based on “One Supreme Lordship” prescribing national monotheism or monism. Indonesia’s spirited statehood is based on a religious, but not confessional interpretation. In addition, the strategy to manage religious plurality is authoritarian, as positive freedom of religion is limited to six state-funded religions, whereas negative religious freedom is not provided for. Despite the equal status of the six state funded religions, discriminative practices prevail with regard to funding those Asian religions. Notwithstanding, the Muslim majority Pancasila state can serve a model function for countries with illiberal politics in the Muslim world.
The first objective of strategic and educational policies is to mould a citizen who has faith in God, follows the commands of God, and has morals. The dimension of spiritual intelligence in education is a particular Indonesian dimension of education, which Indonesian educational planners added to the UNESCO standards of student-centered learning throughout life. Indonesia organizes the religion class and faith-based education systems in a confessional but pluralistic style. The citizens are required to attend the religious class in the religion they adhere to instructed by a teacher of the same belief from elementary to higher education. In addition, the religious mark is a compulsory item in the school report, and whether a pupil/student stays back or is promoted to the next level depends, amongst other factors, on how the religion teacher grades the student.
Unlike the Muslim or Christian based education systems, the Hindu education system is still marginal and minuscule. Its funding is discriminative. Funding and expansion are linked to national policies, and the personal networks of Hindu agents are given the mandate to organize the Hindu administration and education system.
The intriguing effects of electroweak induced parity violation (PV) in molecules have yet to be observed, but experiments on molecular PV promise to provide fascinating insights. They potentially offer a novel testing ground for the low energy sector of the standard model and, in addition, a successful measurement of PV differences between the two enantiomers of a chiral molecule could promote a deeper understanding of molecular chirality, by essentially establishing a new link between particle physics and biochemistry. A key challenge in the design of such experiments is the identification of suitable molecules, which in turn requires widely applicable computational schemes for the prediction of PV experimental signals. To this end, a quasirelativistic density functional theory approach to the calculation of PV effects in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of chiral molecules has been developed and implemented during the course of this thesis. It includes relativistic as well as electron--correlation effects and has been used extensively in the screening of molecules possibly suited for a first observation of molecular PV. Some relevant compound classes have been identified, but none of their selected representatives are predicted to exhibit PV NMR frequency shifts that can be detected under current experimental restrictions. In order to advance the design of molecules which exhibit particularly large PV signals in experiments, systematic effects on PV NMR frequency splittings such as scaling with nuclear charge, conformational dependence and the impact of atomic substitution around the NMR active nucleus have been studied. Previously predicted scaling laws were confirmed and it was determined that the environment of the NMR active nucleus, both in terms of conformation and atomic composition, can be tuned to increase PV frequency shifts by several orders of magnitude. In addition to molecules suited for NMR experiments, a fascinating chiral actinide compound was studied with regard to PV frequency shifts in vibrational spectra. This compound displays the largest such shift ever predicted for an existing molecule, which lies well within the attainable experimental resolution. The challenge now lies in making it compatible with current experimental setups.
Die Geschichte von Sklavenhandel und Sklaverei im britischen Einflussgebiet ist in den letzten Jahrzehnten intensiv behandelt worden. Dabei ging es in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung um das – nicht zuletzt ‚erinnerungspolitische‘ – Problem der Verstrickung britischer Kaufleute und Politiker in den Sklavenhandel, um die Bedeutung der Sklaverei für die britische Wirtschaft und den britischen Aufstieg zur Weltmacht, schließlich um die Motive der Pionierrolle, welche die britische Öffentlichkeit und die britische Regierung für die Kritik an und die Abschaffung von Sklavenhandel und Sklaverei einnahmen. Die vorliegende Dissertation nimmt sich vor, das Bild zu ergänzen, in dem sie nach einer nur auf den ersten Blick marginalen Gruppe fragt: Afrikanerinnen und Afrikanern, die sich weder auf ‚Staatsbesuch‘ noch als Arbeitskräfte in Großbritannien aufhielten, sondern die danach strebten, in England eine britische bzw. europäische Bildung zu erhalten. Die Gruppe erscheint Ries aus zwei Gründen besonders signifikant: Zum einen, weil sie eine entscheidende Funktion für ‚Kulturkontakte‘ zwischen Großbritannien und Afrika hatte, da sie möglicherweise dazu beitragen konnte, britische Bilder und Perzeptionen von Afrika und Afrikanern in anderer Weise zu prägen, als Sklaven oder lokale Potentaten; zum anderen, weil sie die Möglichkeit bietet, die Veränderungen der Haltung(en) der britischen Öffentlichkeit im Allgemeinen und besonders an Afrika interessierter Gruppen im Besonderen abseits der (bereits hinreichend erforschten) Debatten zum Sklavenhandel genauer zu untersuchen.
Es werden folgende Publikationen rezensiert: Chytrý: Vegetation of the Czech Republic 1, Chytrý: Vegetation of the Czech Republic 2, Chytrý: Vegetation of the Czech Republic 3, Eger & Kesper: Flechten zwischen Eder und Diemel, Gerster: Kräuterwissen, Meyer: Pflanzen Nordhessens, Mollenhauer: Gregor Kraus, Seibold: Schmeil-Fitschen, Suck & Bushart: Karte der Potentiellen Natürlichen Vegetation Deutschlands, Süß & al.: Ried und Sand.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden 37 Vegetationsaufnahmen von Hecken- und Gebüschgesellschaften aus der Ordnung Prunetalia spinosae vorgestellt, die zwischen 2008 und 2010 im südhessischen Meerholzer Hügelland angefertigt wurden. 25 Aufnahmen konnten einer pflanzensoziologischen Assoziation zugeordnet werden. Acht Aufnahmen werden auf der Ebene des Verbandes und vier lediglich auf der Ebene der Ordnung charakterisiert. Am häufigsten wurden das Pruno-Ligustretum typicum und Gebüsche aus dem Verband Pruno-Rubion radulae dokumentiert. Neben der Exposition ist vor allem der Basen- und Nährstoffgehalt in den Böden des Untersuchungsgebietes entscheidend für die floristische Zusammensetzung der Gebüsche. Insgesamt wurden 199 Pflanzenarten gefunden. Die Bearbeitung bestimmungskritischer Gehölze aus den Gattungen Crataegus, Rosa und Rubus fand bei der Auswertung besondere Beachtung. Dabei konnten drei Weißdorn-, fünf Rosen- sowie 20 Brombeerarten nachgewiesen werden. Für die gebietsfremden Arten Rosa multiflora und Rubus armeniacus werden die Verbreitung in den Prunetalia-Gesellschaften des Meerholzer Hügellandes dargestellt und deren Einbürgerungsgrad im Gebiet diskutiert. Abschließend werden Hinweise zu Entstehung, Nutzung und Schutz der vorgefundenen Schlehengebüsche gegeben.
Es werden 36 Neu- oder Wiederfunde sowie nicht publizierte Funde von Flechten und flechtenbewohnenden Pilzen in Hessen gemeldet und kurz kommentiert. Drei Arten sind zugleich Neufunde für Deutschland: Lichenochora xanthoriae, Neolamya peltigerae und Phaeospora lecanorae. Die hessische Gesamtartenliste umfasst mittlerweile über 1200 Flechten und flechtenbewohnende oder flechtenähnliche Pilze.
The diplopod orders Callipodida and Polydesmida, and their respective families Abacionidae and
Xystodesmidae, are initially recorded from South Dakota as is Polydesmidae from North Dakota. Other new records of
indigenous taxa include Abacion Rafinesque, 1820/A. texense (Loomis, 1937) and Pleuroloma/P. flavipes, both by
Rafinesque, 1820, from South Dakota, and Pseudopolydesmus Attems, 1898/P. serratus (Say, 1821) from Alabama,
Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. New records of
Aniulus garius Chamberlin, 1912, A. (Hakiulus) d. diversifrons (Wood, 1867), and Oriulus venustus (Wood, 1864)
(Julida: Parajulidae) are provided for western Minnesota and/or eastern North Dakota. Published records from these
states are summarized, and the introduced taxa, Julidae/Cylindroiulus Verhoeff, 1894/C. caeruleocinctus (Wood, 1864)
and Paradoxosomatidae/Oxidus Cook, 1911/O. gracilis (C. L. Koch, 1847), are newly recorded from the Dakotas. The
distribution of P. serratus, which extends from Maine to South Carolina and the Florida panhandle, west to Texas, and
north to Fargo, North Dakota is described and discussed. This distribution exhibits a prominent southeastern lacuna
which we hypothesize suggests replacement by younger, more successful species, as postulated for a similar distributional
gap in Scytonotus granulatus (Say, 1821).
Snoqualmia, new genus, is described for two species of polydesmid millipeds from the northwestern
United States: Snoqualmia snoqualmie, new species, from Washington State, and S. idaho, new species,
from Idaho. Males of S. idaho possess unusually complex gonopods, perhaps the most complex to be found in the Order
Polydesmida. Snoqualmia is placed in context with other polydesmid genera known from North America. The
polydesmid fauna of North America is discussed, as well as characters of the gonopods of the family.
Recent fieldwork on North Andros Island by the authors resulted in the collection of six species of Pterophoridae
(Lepidoptera), five of which were previously unrecorded for the Bahamas in published accounts. Three
additional species are noted for the Bahamian fauna based on specimens collected in the 1980s on other islands.
Representative specimens are illustrated from North Andros along with genitalic images for species where these
are not readily available in other publications. In addition, images of the larva and pupa are provided for a reared
species for which the life history was previously unknown.
With the discovery of Mitocybe auriportae Cook and Loomis, 1928 (Platydesmida: Andrognathidae) in Alameda County (Co.), east of San Francisco Bay, a potential overall distribution in coastal California is projected based on those of partly congruent diplopods. The area extends from northern Mendocino to central Monterey cos. and inland to central Lake, Yolo, and Santa Clara cos.
Currently, the genus Chimarra Stephens (Trichoptera: Philopotamidae) is represented in the Oriental Region by 259 species. Of these, 61 species have been described or recorded from Vietnam. In this paper, 9 new species from Vietnam are described and illustrated (Chimarra aculeata, C. carinata, C. corneola, C. insolita, C. mina, C. prominens, C. rostrata, C. undulata, and C. ungula). In addition, 3 new country records are noted (Chimarra areli Malicky and Mey, Chimarra pipake Malicky and Chantaramongkol, and Chimarra suthepensis Chantaramongkol and Malicky), and 1 new species group (minuta Group) is proposed and populated. An additional species group (georgensis “Group”), with 1 new species from Vietnam, but otherwise only known from Africa, is discussed, but not formally defined. A table listing all known Vietnamese species of Chimarra is included, along with discussion of variability in the anal veins of the forewing found within this genus, and its relevance for defining subgenera and species groups.
A taxonomic review of the ancora species group of Graphipterus Latreille (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
(2012)
The taxonomy of the ancora species group of Graphipterus Latreille (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is reviewed and seven species are recognized, all from southern Africa: Graphipterus ancora Dejean, Graphipterus cordiger Dejean, Graphipterus distinctus Péringuey (new status), Graphipterus fasciatus Chaudoir, Graphipterus fritschi Chaudoir, Graphipterus wahlbergi Boheman (new status), and Graphipterus westwoodi Brême (new status).
Diagnostic features are provided for each species and adult specimens of each species are illustrated.
Two species of the weevil genus Compsus Schoenherr (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from Colombia are redescribed: C. obliquatus Hustache and C.viridivittatus (Guérin-Méneville). A key by Hustache in 1938, to 33 of the 34 recognized species of Colombian Compsus then known, is modified to include the one additional species. Habitus illustrations of males and females of the two species and illustrations of selected parts of the male and female genitalia are included. Nearly all of the specimens of these two species were collected on various species or varieties of citrus, indicating their potential as citrus pests in the future.
The relation between law, moral, society and science is shifting in Brazil as it is changing in democratic contemporary societies. This paper proposes to reflect about this change in the Brazilian legal and social context. Jurisprudence and legal practice have been transformed intensively after the Brazilian redemocratization that began in 1985 and Federal Constitution of 1988. In the field of Jurisprudence (Legal Theory), a new legal theory called post-positivism progressively has been overcoming legal critical studies and legal positivism. In recent years, ideas as any moral values can be improved by law (positivism) or law is one of many oppressive institutions in capitalist society (legal critical studies – Marxism) have been losing place in legal theory. Nowadays, when Brazilian Constitution implements just society and legal system, different from the authoritarian military regime (1964 – 1985), it is difficult to work with a complete relativistic idea of law (positivism) or difficult to accept that law is necessarily oppressive in capitalistic societies. Otherwise the idea of science in law at post-positivistic point of view try to overcome in a dialectic way a pure science methodology (normativistic positivism) and the complete political and economic studies of law (critical legal studies – Marxism). After that, the text will show that Brazilian legal practice have changed intensively after post positivistic methodology of law and will reflect about same dilemmas of post-positivism in Brazil in the legal theory and practice.
The paper is concerned with the Hartian idea that the justification of law’s normativity can be traced back to the exquisite social fact, viz. special kind of social convention. After discussing the view that the rule of recognition is a coordinative convention A. Marmor’s idea of constitutive convention is introduced. Relying on J. Dickson’s brilliant enquiry I finally argue that this latter idea is deprieved of any explanatory power, which was pressuposed by H.L.A. Hart when he himself reffered to the conventional rule of recognition as social fact having full normative significance.
In this paper, an analysis of Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall is presented as a hermeneutical key to investigate and criticize two examples of the oblivion of the reasonable distinction and the reasonable relationship between ethics and law proposed by a new Brazilian private law movement called Escola do Direito Civil-Constitucional (The Private-Constitutional School of Thought). Those examples of unreasonable relationship between ethics and law are: 1) the right to be loved and 2) the right to get a private education without paying for it.
Based on Walter Benjamin’s reflections on history and social struggles, this paper drafts an analysis of the relations of the subject with some problems of constitutional theory, in a first effort to bring the field nearer to social philosophy. After tracing a short narrative on modern constitutionalism and its new relationship with the historical time, we argument that Constitution shall be seen as a cultural document of memory of the social struggles of the past and at the same an object of the struggles of the present. Some inconclusive reflections on the possibility of human emancipation through law are presented as conclusion.
To become self-reflexive, Jurisprudence must to establish a dialogue: the human sciences should lose their exotic character in the eyes of Legal Science. It is in the middle between the "order" and the thinking about it, where the "naked experience" happens, that culture and therefore Law builds itself e it is constructed. This paper demonstrates the need to use other human sciences, with emphasis on anthropology, as "methodological strategies" for Jurisprudence self-reflection to become more faithful to the reality of the researched object. Anthropology has the power to show what is "anti-modern". It questions the intellectual space of modernity where the hard definition of antagonisms detached from reality occurs - West/East, “I”/other, civilized/barbarian. Jurisprudence consolidates antagonisms: the diversity and plurality of human societies are rarely seen as a fact but as an aberration, always demanding a justification. It is necessary to create a methodology using what is most extraordinary and human in the analysis of fact: "Anthopological Blues". Anthropology is capable of breaking with the classical conception of scientific methodology that is based on stiffness to produce absolute truths and also support the fulfillment of legal concepts with content and meaning, providing a reinterpretation of science as a human instrument of intervention on reality.
The debates about the interrelations between reason and law have undergone a change after the eighteenth century. References to the recta ratio of jusnaturalistic tradition have not disappeared, but other comprehensions of legal reason have developed. The European debate over legal positivist science has contributed to this in a manifestation of the rationality of law. This transformation may be considered the basis for the development of true “legal technologies” throughout the twentieth century. On the other hand, in the context of theories of positive law which have taken the relation between ethics and legal reason as a problem, the formation of discourses on coercion (Austin and Holmes), on validity (Kelsen and Hart) and on justification (Alexy and Dworkin) has also contributed to the emergence of new models of legal rationality. In this paper, it is highlighted that the construction of these models is linked to the “points of view” which theories have proposed as legitimate for the interpretation of legal phenomenon. And it is suggested that the discussion over points of view (defined as “focuses”, term which is close to the notion of “attitude”, “stance” or “place of speech”) may aid in the debate on the normativity of law.
New technologies generate risks, for the evaluation of which various mechanisms have been developed; the most frequent of these mechanisms consists of advice from committees of experts to the bodies whose role is to decide whether a new technology should be implemented or not. Such committees try to measure the magnitude of the threats that accompany the introduction of a new technology in order that the policy-makers may take their decisions in the light of the reports of the experts. The legitimacy of such reports is not only found in the technical capacity of its authors, but also in the impartiality of their recommendations. On numerous occasions, nevertheless, the effective presence of this evaluation finds itself today under suspicion. There are various methods that can be employed to try to resolve this problem. Firstly by reinforcing the mechanisms on which the technocratic evaluation of the risk are based; for example, through transparency in the selection of the experts. Secondly, by means of the incorporation of democratic mechanisms in the scientific-technological policy. The exposure of the internal conditions to the dynamics of the technological change that make possible the institutionalised involvement of society in the control of risk, as well as of the mechanisms to realise it are the principal subjects of this work.
Akrasia, or weak-will, is a term denoting a phenomenon when one acts freely and intentionally contrary to his or her better judgment. Discussion of akrasia originates in the Plato's Protagoras where he states that “No one who either knows or believes that there is another possible course of action, better than the one he is following, will ever continue on his present course”. However, in his influential article from 1970, Donald Davidson argued that akrasia is theoretically possible yet irrational. Some other critics of Plato's stance point out that phenomenon of akrasia is common in our everyday experience, therefore it must be possible.
These two arguments in favor of akrasia existence – theoretical and empirical – will be discussed from both – philosophical and psychological points of view. Especially, George Ainslie's argument that akrasia results from hyperbolic discounting will be taken into consideration to show how it affects traditional thinking about weak-willed actions.
Finally, the paper will discuss how the contemporary notion of akrasia may affect the idea of responsibility and free will. Implications for the philosophy of law will be shown, i.a. whether it is possible to claim that a given example of a weak-willed action was indeed free and intentional and one should be held responsible for its results.
Occasionally, in pursuing their adjudicative duties over the course of a legal hearing, judges are called upon to acquire new concepts – that is, concepts which they did not possess at the commencement of the hearing. In performing their judicial role they are required to learn new things and, as a result, conceptualise the world in a way which differs from the way they conceived of things before the hearing commenced. Some theorists have argued that either as a general matter or as a matter specific to judicial practice and the legal context, judges are, with some degree of necessity, incapacitated from acquiring certain kinds of concepts. Such concepts include those possessed by the members of culturally different minority groups. Drawing on contemporary trends in analytic and naturalistic philosophy of mind, this paper explores the extent to which a judge might be incapacitated from acquiring new concepts over the course of a legal hearing and identifies those factors which condition the success or failure of that process.
The main purpose of my article is to discuss what GMOs are, the controversies about this specific issue and the related regulations that are put forward by the authorities. GMOs are genetically altered organisms which have been widely produced and breeded in certain parts of the world. According to some experts, this special practice of agriculture emerged in order to put an end to famine and prevent food scarcity. As growing GMOs seems to be more convenient than the traditional farming, it is more eligible to produce food in large scale which will be a fine solution for food scarcity. However, there are some oppositions to the GMOs. It is strongly believed that the real causes of famine is not related to production, it is a problem of distribution of food. Moreover, patenting the seeds leads to an unstoppable control and dominance over food by the private enterprises. Therefore, the opponents state that the aims of these companies are solely financial gain and monopolisation in food production. Patenting the seeds is another arguable issue. It poses a great threat for the organic farmers since GMO seeds can contaminate the others through natural ways. This is not the only danger that organic farmers face with; thay can also be sued by the GMO producers for this unintended exposure to GMO seeds. Not only the diminishing of the variety of species but also the possible adverse effects of GMOs on human health create a debate between the two groups. These are not the only topics that are open to discussion. In addition to these, labelling the products creates a huge problem among the poorly educated consumers as they have not been clearly regulated in some countries. Hence, this subject having such a close connection to human health cannot be ignored by the law. In fact, a number of countries have enacted legislation in order to regulate this sensitive field. Turkey, having been dependent on the import of the agricultural goods for a period of time, has to join these countries with a recent legislation. All these contemporary issues for Turkey will be highlighted in my article.
In this paper I demonstrate the utility of a Values in Design (VID) perspective for the assessment, the design and development of e-democracy tools. In the first part, I give some background information on Values in Design and Value-Sensitive Design and their relevance in the context of e-democracy. In part 2, I analyze three different e-democracy tools from a VID-perspective. The paper ends with some conclusions concerning the merits of VID for e-democracy as well as some considerations concerning the dual tasks of philosophers in assessing and promoting value-sensitive technology design.
The aim of this paper is to explore the case of the Spanish ‘indignants’ movement of May 2011 as an example of the structural changes occurring in the public sphere after the emergence of a new type of social movement characterized by the widespread use of the ICTs. First I focus on the ideological dimension of discourse of the ‘indignants’ movement, so as to reconstruct the protesters’ self-image. They thought that ICTs were playing a prominent role in a wider trend towards a regeneration of democracy, but they were rather misguided because they lack an accurate description of what really happened. In the second part of this paper I will challenge some features of my case study, emphasizing three basic elements of a democratic public sphere. I aim to call into question the idea that a ‘truly’ democratic public may be hosted by the emergent communicative environment.
In the debate on how the new information and communication technologies impact on democratic politics the role played by the digital architecture seems to be surprisingly underrated. In particular, while a lot of attention has been paid to the possibilities that new technologies open up to democratic theory, few works have attempted to look at how democracy may help in shaping technologies. By adopting as a starting point the approach known as ‘code as law’, the paper aims at two objectives: to re-affirm the importance of discussing normative principles to guide the process of code writing in order to reinvigorate the debate; to claim the importance of input reasons when deciding which principles should be chosen. After having remarked that code is relevant for establishing democratic norms, the paper briefly tackles with the main attempts by European scholars to deal with this issue. Then, a couple of practical examples of how code impacts on democratic rights are sketched out. In the last section of the paper a shift from an output-based approach to the legitimacy of code to an input-based is openly advocated: an inquiry into the legitimacy of code should focus on its production.
The aim of this contribution is to introduce and outline a third theory of rights. Concentrating on claim-rights, it proposes to approach this aim via the concept of a directed duty. This approach is justified by the widely shared presupposition that an entity has a right if and only if a duty is owed to this entity. Unlike some prominent other proposals, this contribution does not contrast directed duties with undirected ones. It contrasts two ways a duty can be related to an entity. On the one hand, a duty can be owed to an entity. In this case it is directed to this entity. On the other hand, a duty can concern an entity. There is no reason to presuppose that they exclude each other, on the contrary. Theories of rights have to reconstruct the difference between these two ways a duty can be related to an entity. After having introduced the starting point for a theory of rights in that way, the two classic theories of rights will be rejected, the will theory and the interest theory. The main focus lies on the shortcomings of the different versions of the interest theory. This criticism helps to formulate the conditions a convincing theory of rights has to meet. In the last part, the status theory of rights will be outlined.
This paper aims to assess the arguments that claim representative democracy may be enhanced or replaced by an updated electronic version. Focusing on the dimension of elections and electioneering as the core mechanism of representative democracy I will discuss: (1) the proximity argument used to claim the necessity of filling the gap between decision-makers and stakeholders; (2) the transparency argument, which claims to remove obstacles to the publicity of power; (3) the bottom-up argument, which calls for a new form of legitimacy that goes beyond classical mediation of parties or unions; (4) the public sphere argument, referred to the problem of hierarchical relation between voters and their representatives; (5) the disintermediation argument, used to describe the (supposed) new form of democracy following the massive use of ICTs. The first way of conceptualizing e-democracy as different from mainstream 20th century representative democracy regimes is to imagine it as a new form direct democracy: this conception is often underlying contemporary studies of e-voting. To avoid some of the ingenuousness of this conception of e-democracy, we should take a step back and consider a broader range of issues than mere gerrymandering around the electoral moment. Therefore I shall problematize the abovementioned approach by analyzing a wider range of problems connected to election and electioneering in their relation with ICTs.
Until three years ago, ICT Technologies represented a main “subordinate clause” within the “grammar” of Participatory Budgeting (PB), the tool made famous by the experience of Porto Alegre and today expanded to more than 1400 cities across the planet. In fact, PB – born to enhance deliberation and exchanges among citizens and local institutions – has long looked at ICTS as a sort of “pollution factor” which could be useful to foster transparency and to support the spreading of information but could also lead to a lowering in quality of public discussion, turning its “instantaneity” into “immediatism,” and its “time-saving accessibility” into “reductionism” and laziness in facing the complexity of public decision-making through citizens’ participation. At the same time, ICTs often regarded Participatory Budgeting as a tool that was too-complex and too-charged with ideology to cooperate with. But in the last three years, the barriers which prevented ICTs and Participatory Budgeting to establish a constructive dialogue started to shrink thanks to several experiences which demonstrated that technologies can help overcome some “cognitive injustices” if not just used as a means to “make simpler” the organization of participatory processes and to bring “larger numbers” of intervenients to the process. In fact, ICTs could be valorized as a space adding “diversity” to the processes and increasing outreach capacity. Paradoxically, the experiences helping to overcome the mutual skepticism between ICTs and PB did not come from the centre of the Global North, but were implemented in peripheral or semiperipheral countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Portugal in Europe), sometimes in cities where the “digital divide” is still high (at least in terms of Internet connections) and a significant part of the population lives in informal settlements and/or areas with low indicators of “connection.” Somehow, these experiences were able to demystify the “scary monolithicism” of ICTs, showing that some instruments (like mobile phones, and especially the use of SMS text messaging) could grant a higher degree of connectivity, diffusion and accountability, while other dimensions (which could risk jeopardizing social inclusion) could be minimized through creativity. The paper tries to depict a possible panorama of collaboration for the near future, starting from descriptions of some of the above mentioned “turning-point” experiences – both in the Global North as well as in the Global South.
In this article, I examine how open borders can serve the idea of global distributive justice by asking how or how not the existing practices of immigration to rich countries may contribute to global economic redistribution. There are two observations. First, migration is not the redistributive option that anyone has an equal access. In order to make use of migration as a means of global redistribution, rich countries need to provide a chance to migrate to those who cannot afford movement by themselves. Second, as long as brain-drain problems happen, what the perspective of global distributive justice requires is the compensation for some educational cost of raising professionals or some control of their movement. Immigration admissions largely focusing on getting highly skilled professionals may not serve the idea of global redistribution.
The revolution will be tweeted : how the internet can stimulate the public exercise of freedoms
(2012)
This article discusses how new technologies of communication, especially the Internet and, more specifically, social network services, can interfere in social interactions and in political relations. The main objective is to problematize the concept of public liberty and verify how the new technologies can promote the reoccupation of public spaces and the recovery of public life, in opposition to the tendency to valorize the private sphere, observed in the second half of the twentieth century. The theoretical benchmark adopted for the investigation is Hannah Arendt's theory about the exercise of fundamental political capacities in order to establish a public space of freedom, as presented in “On Revolution”. The “Praia da Estação” (“Station Beach”) case is chosen to test the hypothesis. In 2010 in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, different individuals articulated a movement through blogs, Twitter and facebook, in order to protest against the Mayor’s act that banned the assembling of cultural events in one of the main public places of the city, the “Praça da Estação” (Station Square). By applying Arendt's concepts to the selected case, it is possible to demonstrate that the Internet can assume an important role against governmental arbitrariness and abuse of power, as it can stimulate the public exercise of fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of assembly and manifestation.
The role of experts grows in the present and that is, in part, justifiable: as complexity rises, the ones who deliberate feel the need of the help of those who have know-how in specific fields. The question that must be asked revolves around the type of expectations developed in modern societies regarding what experts can do. Though specialization is not a peculiarity of our time (the process can be observed since human beings became sedentary); it has presently gained specific characteristics. Two aspects of modern life are particularly significant on that matter: (i.) the fact that the economic system is based on excitation of new needs (and no longer on the demand for satisfaction of needs); (ii.) the growing pursuit for total administration of conflicts. These factors are constitutive of what Gadamer sees as a great threat to our civilization: the excessive emphasis given in our time to the human ability to adapt. A specific ability is demanded from individuals: the capability of making an apparatus functions properly. Less resistance and more adaptability is requested, and because of that, autonomous thought - that is, not determined by the function it has in a system – is devalued. The threat we currently face is that the abilities of a good technocrat become the only qualities demanded from those who are responsible for practical decisions (especially in politics and law). Teleological reason, that guides the activity of specialists (and requires know-how in a specific area and consists in choosing means to reach a previously established goal), should not substitute practical reason, as the former requires adaptability to experience (not to a plan that was previously established) and is grounded on solidarity. In order to discuss the limits of the activity of specialists, the paper looks back to phrónesis and the way ancient Greeks set boundaries - this exercise should help raising new questions revolving the matter.
Alexander’s theory of the civil sphere can be placed in the context of development of sociology of law. However, Alexander draws not so much on sociological theories but rather on the approaches of philosophy of law, particularly the ideas of Fuller, Dworkin and Habermas. The civil sphere is presented by Alexander as the embodiment of Dworkin’s principal integrity. Locating law within civil morality Alexander reveals the similarity of his viewpoint to Dworkin’s position. Drawing on Fuller’s works Alexander singles out the procedural foundations of the democratic order. At the same time for Alexander the source of morality of law is not the legal system itself but a certain level of civil solidarity. Like Habermas, Alexander emphasizes the culturally embedded character of the legal norms. Alexander shares Habermas’s understanding of law as a regulative mechanism affecting all spheres of social life. However, Habermas is more sensitive to the danger of colonization of law by the imperatives of the economic and political subsystems. Alexander’s approach can be contrasted with Luhmann’s sociological theory of law. Alexander concentrates on interrelation and mutual penetration of the civil sphere and law while Luhmann regards law as an autonomous system following its own logic. While Alexander claims that his theory is rooted both in sociology and philosophy of law in fact his approach is closer to normative philosophy.
Doctrines developed by the EFTA Court have placed considerable demands on national courts in the EFTA States. The Court now considers the EEA Agreement to form an “international treaty sui generis which contains a distinct legal order of its own.” It would thus seem that EEA law has transformed into an independent legal order, and subsequently has a claim to validity which emulates the self-legitimising presentation of the EU legal order. This, however, is not an empirically verifiable fact, but a particular understanding which arises when one adopts the viewpoint of the EFTA Court. EEA law takes place in a different realm when interpreted and applied in the national order: this realm is essentially a construction of the constitutional order. Case law shows that the Icelandic Supreme Court is far from accepting all EEA judge-made principles. This study will describe a context of legal pluralism by reference to the Icelandic legal system and its relationship with the EEA legal order. To illustrate the discussion, the most important case law relative to the interaction between Icelandic laws and EEA law will be considered in the light of legal pluralism - particularly the principles of contrapunctual law designed by Miguel Maduro. The paper argues that the Supreme Court’s internal domestic approach to the application of EEA law will inevitably become a source of fragmentation unless it takes place within an institutional framework of judicial tolerance and judicial dialogue.
The demarcation of authority between parents and the State regarding education of children has become an increasingly complex issue over the past three decades. During the same period the number of parents around the world choosing educational alternatives such as homeschooling has grown exponentially, causing significant legislative and jurisprudential shifts in the United States as well as other Western nations. If the State is responsible for education or has a significant interest therein, then it must have broad authority by which to prescribe the method, mechanism, and acceptable outcomes of education; it must also be able to review and enforce these desired outcomes. If parents, on the other hand, are responsible, then it is the State’s duty to defer to parents absent a compelling reason to interfere. A survey of the philosophical foundations from ancient to modern times demonstrates the tension between the State and parents in the realm of education; however, modern human rights norms contained in post-1945 international human rights documents provide explicit grounds on which the State must defer to parental choice in education.
H. L. A. Hart thought that a theory of law can be purely descriptive and called his theory a “descriptive sociology”. One of his great contributions to modern legal theory is his emphasis on the internal aspect of social rules. According to him, a theory of law can be built on the basis of the description of the participants’ view without sharing with it. This descriptivism is totally rejected by Dworkin, who propagates a theory that denies a sharp separation between a legal theory and its implications for adjudication. For Dworkin, a legal theory is only possible as a theory with “the internal, participants’ point of view”. Dworkin’s position implies a radicalization of legal theory that will transform the statement of an external point of view to that of an internal one. For Dworkin, the descriptivism bases on the sociological concept of law, which is an “imprecise criterial concept” and is “not sufficiently precise to yield philosophically interesting essential features.”Hart’s position is vulnerable because it takes an impure form of descriptivism that still draws a categorical distinction between fact and norm. This theoretical impurity results from the ambiguity of interpreting the internal aspect of rules. A strategy to rescue the Hart’s project is to radicalize his descriptivism with Luhmann's systems theory. Adapting the systems theoretical distinction between internal and external observation of law with all its implications for the explanation of the legal system and legal communications, Hart’s descriptivism finally attains its pure form, which is not only a distinctive paradigm of legal theory, but also possesses the potentialities to clarify its relationship to the legal theory based on the internal aspect of law.
Technologies carry politics since they embed values. It is therefore surprising that mainstream political and legal theory have taken the issue so lightly. Compared to what has been going on over the past few decades in the other branches of practical thought, namely ethics, economics and the law, political theory lags behind. Yet the current emphasis on Internet politics that polarizes the apologists holding the web to overcome the one-to-many architecture of opinion-building in traditional representative democracy, and the critics that warn cyber-optimism entails authoritarian technocracy has acted as a wake up call. This paper sets the problem – “What is it about ICTs, as opposed to previous technical devices, that impact on politics and determine uncertainty about democratic matters?” – into the broad context of practical philosophy, by offering a conceptual map of clusters of micro-problems and concrete examples relating to “e-democracy”. The point is to highlight when and why the hyphen of e-democracy has a conjunctive or a disjunctive function, in respect to stocktaking from past experiences and settled democratic theories. My claim is that there is considerable scope to analyse how and why online politics fails or succeeds. The field needs both further empirical and theoretical work.
Mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy play a key role in ensuring mitochondrial quality control. Impairment thereof was proposed to be causative to neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Accumulation of mitochondrial dysfunction was further linked to aging. Here we applied a probabilistic modeling approach integrating our current knowledge on mitochondrial biology allowing us to simulate mitochondrial function and quality control during aging in silico. We demonstrate that cycles of fusion and fission and mitophagy indeed are essential for ensuring a high average quality of mitochondria, even under conditions in which random molecular damage is present. Prompted by earlier observations that mitochondrial fission itself can cause a partial drop in mitochondrial membrane potential, we tested the consequences of mitochondrial dynamics being harmful on its own. Next to directly impairing mitochondrial function, pre-existing molecular damage may be propagated and enhanced across the mitochondrial population by content mixing. In this situation, such an infection-like phenomenon impairs mitochondrial quality control progressively. However, when imposing an age-dependent deceleration of cycles of fusion and fission, we observe a delay in the loss of average quality of mitochondria. This provides a rational why fusion and fission rates are reduced during aging and why loss of a mitochondrial fission factor can extend life span in fungi. We propose the ‘mitochondrial infectious damage adaptation’ (MIDA) model according to which a deceleration of fusion–fission cycles reflects a systemic adaptation increasing life span.
I characterize optimal monetary and fiscal policy in a stochastic New Keynesian model when nominal interest rates may occasionally hit the zero lower bound. The benevolent policymaker controls the short-term nominal interest rate and the level of government spending. Under discretionary policy, accounting for fiscal stabilization policy eliminates to a large extent the welfare losses associated with the presence of the zero bound. Under commitment, the gains associated with the use of the fiscal policy tool remain modest, even though fiscal stabilization policy is part of the optimal policy mix.