Prigogine and Pannenberg: Theological and Scientific Perspectives on Contingency and Irreversibility

The author demonstrates how Nobel Laureate Ilya Prigogine\'s pioneering work on dissipative structures and non-equilibrium thermodynamics might be used to answer theological questions about contingency and irreversibility that theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg posed to scientists twenty years ago. Prigogine \'s reformulation of classical dynamics and his mathematical model of irreversibility seem to corroborate Pannenberg \'s claim that natural phenomena must be both contingent and irreversible, if the Christian worldview is correct. The writings of Prigogine and Pannenberg provide an interesting example of the methodological difficulties encountered when comparing scientific and theological worldviews

A Conversation on Divine Infinity and Cantorian Set Theory

This essay is written as a drama that opens with Aristotle, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Nicholas of Cusa debating the nature and reality of infinity, introducing historical concepts such as potential, actual, and divine infinity. Georg Cantor, founder of set theory, then gives a lecture on set theory and transfinite numbers. The lecture concludes with a discussion of the theological motivations and implications of set theory and Cantor\'s absolute infinity. The paradoxes inherent in analyzing absolute infinity seem to provide a useful analogy for understanding God\'s unknowable nature and the divine relation to creation

Prigogine and Pannenberg: Theological and Scientific Perspectives on Contingency and Irreversibility

The author demonstrates how Nobel Laureate Ilya Prigogine\'s pioneering work on dissipative structures and non-equilibrium thermodynamics might be used to answer theological questions about contingency and irreversibility that theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg posed to scientists twenty years ago. Prigogine \'s reformulation of classical dynamics and his mathematical model of irreversibility seem to corroborate Pannenberg \'s claim that natural phenomena must be both contingent and irreversible, if the Christian worldview is correct. The writings of Prigogine and Pannenberg provide an interesting example of the methodological difficulties encountered when comparing scientific and theological worldviews

The economic geography of trade, production and income : a survey of empirics.

This paper surveys the empirical literature on the economic geography of trade flows, factor prices, and the location of production. The discussion is structured around the empirical predictions of a canonical theoretical model. We review empirical evidence on the determinants of trade costs and the effects of these costs on trade flows. Geography is a major determinant of factor prices, and access to foreign markets alone is shown to explain some 35% of the cross-country variation in per capita income. The paper documents empirical findings of home market (or magnification) effects, suggesting that imperfectly competitive industries are drawn more than proportionately to locations with good market access. Sub-national evidence establishes the presence of industrial clustering, and we examine the roles played by product market linkages to customer and supplier firms, knowledge spillovers, and labour market externalities.

Polanyi's tacit knowing and the relevance of epistemology to clinical medicine

Most clinicians take for granted a simple, reductionist understanding of medical knowledge that is at odds with how they actually practice medicine; routine medical decisions incorporate more complicated kinds of information than most standard accounts of medical reasoning suggest. A better understanding of the structure and function of knowledge in medicine can lead to practical improvements in clinical medicine. This understanding requires some familiarity with epistemology, the study of knowledge and its structure, in medicine. Michael Polanyi's theory of tacit knowing is advanced as the basis for developing a more accurate understanding of medical knowledge. Tacit knowing, which explores the taken-for-granted background knowledge that underlies all human knowing, is explained in detail with a focus on its relevance for clinical medicine. The implications of recognizing tacit knowing in medicine and medical decisions are discussed. These include the ability to explain the importance of the clinical encounter in medical practice, mechanisms for analysing patient and doctor as persons, and the need for humility given the uncertainty that the tacit dimension injects into all medical decisions. This more robust medical epistemology allows clinicians to better articulate the nature and importance of patient-centred care, to avoid pitfalls inherent in reductionist approaches to medical knowledge, and to think more clearly about the relationships between medicine and health care at the individual and population levels.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79065/1/j.1365-2753.2010.01387.x.pd

On the hardness of recognizing triangular line graphs

Given a graph G, its triangular line graph is the graph T(G) with vertex set consisting of the edges of G and adjacencies between edges that are incident in G as well as being within a common triangle. Graphs with a representation as the triangular line graph of some graph G are triangular line graphs, which have been studied under many names including anti-Gallai graphs, 2-in-3 graphs, and link graphs. While closely related to line graphs, triangular line graphs have been difficult to understand and characterize. Van Bang Le asked if recognizing triangular line graphs has an efficient algorithm or is computationally complex. We answer this question by proving that the complexity of recognizing triangular line graphs is NP-complete via a reduction from 3-SAT.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 4 table

Expression and function of transient receptor potential channels in the female bovine reproductive tract

© 2016 Elsevier Inc. The epithelium lining the oviduct is critical for early reproductive events, many of which are mediated via intracellular calcium ions. Despite this, little is known about the regulation of calcium homeostasis in the oviductal epithelium. Epithelial transient receptor potential channels (TRPCs) modulate calcium flux in other tissues, and their expression and functional regulation have therefore been examined using the bovine oviduct as a model for the human. The effects of FSH, LH, 17β-estradiol, and progesterone on TRPCs expression and intracellular calcium flux were determined. Transient receptor potential channels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 were expressed in the bovine reproductive tract, and their gene expression varied throughout the estrous cycle. In more detailed studies undertaken on TRPC1 and 6, we show that protein expression varied through the estrus cycle; specifically, 17β-estradiol, FSH, and LH individually and in combination upregulated TRPC1 and 6 expression in cultured bovine oviduct epithelial cells although progesterone antagonized these effects. Functional studies showed changes in calcium mobilization in bovine oviduct epithelial cells were dependent on TRPCs. In conclusion, TRPC1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are present in the epithelium lining the bovine oviduct, and TRPC1 and 6 vary through the estrous cycle suggesting an important role in early reproductive function

The future of rural policy: lessons from spatial economics

This policy paper is concerned with rural policy. It spells out the lessons for rural policy that emerge from recent SERC research

Local economic effects of Brexit

This paper studies local economic impacts of the increases in trade barriers associated with Brexit. Predictions of the local impact of Brexit are presented under two different scenarios, soft and hard Brexit, which are developed from a structural trade model. Average effects are predicted to be negative under both scenarios, and to be more negative under hard Brexit. The spatial variation in negative shocks across areas is higher in the latter case as some local areas are particularly specialised in sectors that are predicted to be badly hit by hard Brexit. Areas in the South of England, and urban areas, are harder hit by Brexit under both scenarios. Again, this pattern is explained by sector specialisation. Finally, the areas that were most likely to vote remain are those that are predicted to be most negatively impacted by Brexit

The local economic impacts of regeneration projects: evidence from UK’s Single Regeneration Budget

We study the local economic impacts of a major regeneration programme aimed at enhancing the quality of life of local people in deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. The analysis is based on a panel of firm and area level data available at small spatial scales. Our identification strategies involve: a) exploiting the fine spatial scale of our data to study how effects vary with distance to the intervention area; and b) comparing places close to treatment in early rounds of the programme with places close to treatment in future rounds. We consider the long run impact of schemes funded between 1995 and 1997 on outcomes up to 2009. Our estimates suggest that the programme increased workplace employment in the intervention area but this had no impact on the employment rates of local residents