Issues and challenges in the application of Husserlian phenomenology to the Lived Experience of Hate Crime and Its Legal Aftermath

The field of hate crime research addresses the presence, sources and impact of particular types of expressions of prejudice, often perceived as particularly damaging and hurtful forms of interpersonal abuse and violence. Little, if any, credible academic research seeks to vindicate the specific racist, gendered and other vicious prejudices articulated by many perpetrators of hate crime. In turn, this raises the reflexive question of the possibilities of researchers themselves ever being able to adopt a truly "unprejudiced" approach to the presence of such damaging prejudices. Can this goal be realised without a researcher necessarily losing an experientially-grounded understanding of what these meanings, values and purposes have come to mean, and how they are themselves interpretatively re-constituted anew, including within the lived experience of victims, witnesses, police, prosecutors, judges and victim support workers? A possible philosophically-informed approach to the dilemmas posed by this topic is offered by Husserl's phenomenology. Husserl's perpetually unfinished philosophical methodology strives, with concerted if sometimes tragic reflective rigor, to "suspend," "bracket out" and "neutralise" those core presuppositions constitutive of the research field that typically pre-judge precisely whatever demands to be questioned and explored in a radically non-prejudicial manner. This study critically explores the possibilities, reflective stages and theoretical limitations of a sympathetically reconstructed Husserlian approach to hate crime, itself understood as a would-be qualitative "science of consciousness." It argues that despite its manifest tensions, gaps, ambiguities and internal contradictions, aspects of the Husserlian philosophical approach directed towards the different levels of experienced hate crime still retain the potential to both challenge and advance our understanding of this topic. It is the "instructive" part of "instructive failure" that this article highlights

Thin Polymer Brush Decouples Biomaterial's Micro-/Nano-Topology and Stem Cell Adhesion

Surface morphology and chemistry of polymers used as biomaterials, such as tissue engineering scaffolds, have a strong influence on the adhesion and behavior of human mesenchymal stem cells. Here we studied semicrystalline poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) substrate scaffolds, which exhibited a variation of surface morphologies and roughness originating from different spherulitic superstructures. Different substrates were obtained by varying the parameters of the thermal processing, i.e. crystallization conditions. The cells attached to these polymer substrates adopted different morphologies responding to variations in spherulite density and size. In order to decouple substrate topology effects on the cells, sub-100 nm bio-adhesive polymer brush coatings of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates were grafted from PCL and functionalized with fibronectin. On surfaces featuring different surface textures, dense and sub-100 nm thick brush coatings determined the response of cells, irrespective to the underlying topology. Thus, polymer brushes decouple substrate micro-/nano-topology and the adhesion of stem cells

The Role of Agglomeration and Technology in Shaping Firm Strategy and Organization

Over the last few years a growing number of contributions have shown that the presence of business groups, i.e. sets of firms legally distinct but belonging to the same owner(s), is significant. From a theoretical point of view, this presence poses the question of whether the group or the single legal unit should be considered as the elementary unit in economic analysis: i.e., what is generally meant in microeconomic theory by firm. In this paper we consider the group as the appropriate unit to delimit the firms boundary, i.e. as the observed organizational form adopted by firms when they grow in size. Starting from this hypothesis, the main aim of this paper is to analyse the role of structural variables, such as spatial agglomeration and technology, in determining some features of business groups strategy and organization. Specifically, the analysis concerns the presence and organizational specificity of business groups based on their membership of industrial districts (as a proxy for spatial agglomeration) and to the role of spatial agglomeration and technology in vertical integration strategies. To conduct the analysis, we take advantage of a new and large data-set at firm and business group level, recently developed by ISTAT (the Italian National Statistical Institute). The data-set, referring to 2001, covers all manufacturing firms organized as joint-stock companies

History and physical examination: the cornerstones of the third millennium in medicine

Woman, 76aa, log on to first aid point of for fever, sore throat and polyarthralgia 2 weeks EO: right knee arthritis, palpable cervical-axil-lary lymphnodes, soft ankle edema,functional impairment with pain in shoulder blades, small flat scar interscapular hepatosplenomegaly con-firmed by US. Lab tests: marked phlogosis (VES: 57 mm/h; PCR: 35mg/dl) with rise ferritin and procalcitonin (0,89 pg/ml), anemia, neutrophilic leucocytosis (20000/ml), 3 out of 3 blood cultures pos for MSSA, pos RF, no consumption of complement, immune serology neg-ative CT chest-abdomen: structural upheaval right subscapularis mus-cle to cystic degeneration, with uptake of contrast medium (measures: 13 x 12 cm). Smaller similar injury to the left of the subscapularis (7x6 cm), with colliquativa of deltoid and infraspinatus TTE: thickened an-terior mitral cusp TEE: small non-mobile vegetations on mitral valve, in resolution.After review of anamnesis,previous month excision of small lipoma interscapular,without sequelae and surgical wound in order to follow-up. We therefore posed diagnosis of sepsis with infection of soft tissues of shoulder girdle, associated with bacterial endocarditis by MSSA. After 1 month of continuous IV infusion prolonged antibiotic therapy, patient\u2019s overall conditions were satisfactory. Emblematic case of soft tissue infection secondary to the front door by contiguit

Isolation of Rhodocyclus gelatinosus from poultry slaughterhouse wastewater

Four cultures of photosynthetic bacteria isolated from poultry slaughterhouse wastewater were identified as Rhodocyclus gelatinosus based on the following properties: reddish color of cultures in synthetic medium, presence of motility, slightly curved Gram-negative rods morphology, gelatin liquefying activity, utilization of citrate as carbon source and production of bacteriochlorophyl a and carotenoids of the spirilloxanthin alternative series. R. gelatinosus may represent a source of nutrients and pigments with application in poultry feed.<br>Quatro culturas de bactérias fotossintetizantes isoladas de águas residuárias de abatedouro de aves foram identificadas como Rhodocyclus gelatinosus com base nas seguintes propriedades: desenvolvimento de cor avermelhada nos cultivos em meio sintético, motilidade positiva, morfologia de bastonetes gram-negativos ligeiramente curvos, atividade de liquefação da gelatina, utilização de citrato como fonte de carbono e produção de bacterioclorofila a e carotenóides da série espiriloxantina alternativa. Esses testes foram também aplicados para uma linhagem de Rhodocyclus gelatinosus de referência para efeito de comparação. A biomassa de R. gelatinosus pode representar uma fonte de nutrientes e de pigmentos na alimentação de aves