Concurrent systems and inevitability

AbstractConcurrent systems viewed as partially ordered sets of states are considered. A property of system states is called inevitable, if the system will eventually reach a state with this property. This notion is discussed within the partial order framework

POLISH AND EUROPEAN ECONOMIC CULTURE – A COMPARISON

The term "economic culture" describes historically shaped elements in the general culture of population, concerning values recognized and desired by a particular community, relating to the management and to the economic system of the states. The most important economic cultural behaviors include: awareness of economic choices, attitudes and behaviors of economic choices, the rules of the economic game. There is a theory which assumes that the globalization of the economy will lead to the emergence of a single, common to the whole world culture through enculturation, which is defined as a gradual process of growing of the individual (or group) into the culture or cultures through assimilation of cultural heritage of the surrounding community. More inculturation can be understood as a process of movement between different cultures come into contact and the transmission of cultural patterns. The article is an attempt at presenting the Polish economic culture against the European background and identifying the differences. It discusses the impact of national history and religion on the present shape of economic life, with particular regard to its negative aspects, i.e. the relatively high level of bribery and unemployment or the negative personal attitudes

Burial crypts in solid rock – a geophysical case study of a small church with a unique polychrome in Szydłów (S Poland)

Lesser Poland (Małopolska) is a historic region of Poland. The presented case study was undertaken in the All Saints’ Church in the town of Szydłów, in which conservation and restoration works were carried out to preserve Gothic wall paintings by identifying and eliminating the causes of their degradation, and these efforts were supported by geophysical surveying. The conducted studies constitute a step not only to determine the age of the construction of the Szydłów temple, but also to improve knowledge of medieval architecture and mural paintings in Lesser Poland. The geophysical research with application of GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) helped to locate previously unknown structures under the temple floor. This survey indicated four, possibly connected, structural objects clearly visible in GPR profiles. Carried out works confirmed that anomalies visible on radargrams mark two crypts. This discovery of the hidden construction elements emphasizes and strengthens the earlier suppositions of the unique character of this temple

Temporal reprogramming of calcium signalling via crosstalk of gonadotrophin receptors that associate as functionally asymmetric heteromers.

Signal crosstalk between distinct G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is one mechanism that underlies pleiotropic signalling. Such crosstalk is also pertinent for GPCRs activated by gonadotrophic hormones; follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH), with specific relevance to female reproduction. Here, we demonstrate that gonadotrophin receptor crosstalk alters LH-induced Gαq/11-calcium profiles. LH-induced calcium signals in both heterologous and primary human granulosa cells were prolonged by FSHR coexpression via influx of extracellular calcium in a receptor specific manner. LHR/FSHR crosstalk involves Gαq/11 activation as a Gαq/11 inhibitor abolished calcium responses. Interestingly, the enhanced LH-mediated calcium signalling induced by FSHR co-expression was dependent on intracellular calcium store release and involved Gβγ. Biophysical analysis of receptor and Gαq interactions indicated that ligand-dependent association between LHR and Gαq was rearranged in the presence of FSHR, enabling FSHR to closely associate with Gαq following LHR activation. This suggests that crosstalk may occur via close associations as heteromers. Super-resolution imaging revealed that LHR and FSHR formed constitutive heteromers at the plasma membrane. Intriguingly, the ratio of LHR:FSHR in heterotetramers was specifically altered following LH treatment. We propose that functionally significant FSHR/LHR crosstalk reprograms LH-mediated calcium signalling at the interface of receptor-G protein via formation of asymmetric complexes

Efficacy of Operculectomy in the Treatment of 145 Cases with Unerupted Second Molars: A Retrospective Case–Control Study

The aim of this study is to assess whether operculectomy in patients with retained second molars eases spontaneous tooth eruption in respect to untreated controls. Two hundred and twenty-two patients with delayed eruption of at least one second molar were selected from the archives of the Department of Orthodontics, Milan, Italy. Eighty-eight patients, 40 males and 48 females (mean age 14.8 ± 1.3 years), met the inclusion criteria. Records were then divided into case and control groups. The case group consisted of patients that underwent removal of the overlaying mucosa over second molars (i.e., operculectomy) and the control group consisted of subjects who retained their operculum over an unerupted second molar and were followed for one year without performing any treatment. A total of 145 impacted second molars were considered (75 cases, 70 controls). A risk ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to compare the prevalence of eruption in the two groups. Spontaneous eruption occurred in 93.3% of cases in the operculectomy group (70/75), while in the control group, 10% teeth erupted spontaneously (7/70). Spontaneous eruption in the upper arch occurred in 95.2% of cases among treated patients (40 out of 42), while in the lower arch, spontaneous eruption occurred in 90.9% of cases (30 out of 33). Spontaneous eruption of the upper second molars in the control group occurred in 8.5% of cases (3 out of 35), while in the lower arch, it occurred in 8.5% (3 out of 35). Operculectomy can ease the spontaneous eruption of retained second molars and reduce the chances of inclusion

Adaptive short-term associative conditioning in the pancreatic β-cell

This study associates cholinergic stimulation of the pancreatic β-cell electrical activity with a short-term memory phenomenon. Glucose pulses applied to a basal glucose concentration induce depolarizing waves which are used to estimate the evolution of the β-cell glucose sensitivity. Exposure to carbamoylcholine (carbachol) increases the size of the glucose-induced depolarizing waves. This change appears after carbachol withdrawal and implies a temporal potentiation of sensitivity (TPS) lasting up to one hour. TPS induction requires the simultaneous action of carbachol and glucose. The substitution of glucose with the secretagogues glyceraldehyde or 2-ketoisocaproate mimics glucose-induced TPS, while palmitate does not. TPS is not produced if the membrane is kept hyperpolarized by diazoxide. Glucose can be replaced by tolbutamide, suggesting a role of depolarization and a subsequent increase in intracellular calcium concentration. A role for kinases is suggested because staurosporine prevents TPS induction. Cycloheximide does not impair TPS induction, indicating that de novo protein synthesis is not required. The fact that the two inputs acting simultaneously produce an effect that lasts up to one hour without requiring de novo protein synthesis suggests that TPS constitutes a case of short-term associative conditioning in non-neural tissue. The convergence of basal glucose levels and muscarinic activation happens physiologically during the cephalic phase of digestion, in order to later absorb incoming fuels. Our data reveals that the role of the cephalic phase may be extended, increasing nutrient sensitivity during meals while remaining low between them

Liberal international environmental justice and foreign direct investment at the International Finance Corporation

2012 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.In recent years there have been broad and important debates about whether international environmental justice is attainable within the liberal model. This issue warrants examination, particularly in a context which reflects the strongest possible potential for liberal claims. An especially potent commendation of the liberal model is found in North-to-South foreign direct investment, where liberal advocates identify investment as a key strategy to improve the life chances of the poor. However, foreign direct investment today reflects in many cases dimensions of injustice as between investor and affected populations. Such injustices arise in particular where an investment project taps into local resources such as land, air, water, precious metals, and so on without sufficient participation by affected persons in the benefits of such resource access. These sorts of inequities are especially troubling where the investor originates in one of the wealthier countries of the global North and the recipient country and affected population resides in the global South. This study attempts to then answer the question: may such injustices be remediated within the scope of a liberal model of economic activity and development? That is, can liberal prescriptions for justice be satisfied by liberal economic precepts and patterns? The study first posits a social liberal amendment to dominant contemporary neoliberal understandings. The analysis then turns to the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation as a potential best-case example of efforts to render North-South foreign direct investment more environmentally sound. In particular, the study asks whether the policies and programs of the International Finance Corporation may be fairly seen to accommodate liberal justice precepts. Culling the existing literature, and employing evidence gleaned from documentary analysis and in-person interviews, the study asks whether the International Finance Corporation is durably engaged in advancing international environmental justice in financed projects. Through a deconstruction of International Finance Corporation documents and case studies of a purposive sample of recently-financed projects the study asks whether there is more going on at the International Finance Corporation than mere environmental window-dressing. The analysis shows that a social liberal international environmental justice is being advanced, but not evenly. The study concludes that a stronger implementation of international environmental justice is possible within the social liberal model, but that improvements are needed

On Campus, April 29, 1996

A Newsletter for Faculty and Staff of Coastal Carolina University. Volume 5, Number 9https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/on-campus/1079/thumbnail.jp