Heated debates and cool analysis: thinking well about financial ethics

Not for the first time, the banks and other financial institutions have got themselves – and the rest of us – into a mess, this time on an unprecedented financial and geographical scale. It is no surprise that opinions about causes, consequences and cures abound with ethical issues, as well as technical and economic concerns, a focus of attention. It is to be hoped that useful lessons for the future will be learned. In this chapter, however, we step back from a direct engagement with the stated ills of the financial system itself, whether actual or perceived, chronic or acute. Our starting point is that crisis in the financial system not only makes us stop and think; but it might also, particularly under conditions of moral panic, prevent us from thinking well. Our contention is that a further impediment to thinking well about financial crises is the lack of a substantial body of academic knowledge that might be termed ‘financial ethics’ – a corpus of well developed conceptual insights and appropriate empirical evidence. We identify some of the reasons for this situation and proffer some suggestions regarding what might be done to remedy it – including the development of knowledge that is as relevant to everyday practices during periods of normality as it is to providing perspectives on crisis. The chapter is structured as follows: the next section provides a perspective on debate during times of crisis; the middle section seeks to explain why academic financial ethics is not a significant constituent element of debate on the financial crisis post-2007; and the final two main sections explore ways in which an academic agenda for financial ethics might be constructed. In a curious way this chapter echoes some of the themes and especially the conclusion of David Bevan’s chapter in this work (chapter18) although the reasoning to the conclusion that finance ethics is an empty set follows a rather different Badiou-inspired path in chapter 18

Imaging the environmental ultraviolet

A technique has been developed to visually represent measured environmental ultraviolet radiation using a digital photograph and measurements of the UV and visible light intensity. The method involves the use of a personal pocket UV meter, an optional lux meter and a simple image processing technique to present visual images that are weighted to the ambient ultraviolet, providing images that highlight regions of high ultraviolet intensity that can be compared with a visible photograph. The technique described, provides a method students can follow to better develop an understanding of the potentially harmful ultraviolet irradiance with respect to visible daylight, indicating that the ambient ultraviolet and visible environment are not directly related, with ultraviolet intensity being dependent on many different factors and not the visual brightness of the location alone

Corporate Social Reporting in Libya: A Research Note

Purpose Not enough is known about social accounting disclosure practices in developing countries. This research note adds strength and depth to the few other studies that take Libya as a point of departure to understanding the dynamic between disclosure practices and the context in which they are performed. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 270 annual reports from 54 companies, both public and private across a range of sectors and covering a five year period (2001-2005) were analysed using content analysis to ascertain patterns and trends in corporate social reporting by Libyan companies. Findings Libyan companies generally disclose some information related to social responsibility but at a low level compared with developed countries and only in certain areas. This situation changed little over the five year period under scrutiny. Research limitations/implications During the five year period examined, CSR remained largely unresponsive to significant changes in the political scene that occurred over a much longer period of time. This suggests further research is needed to illuminate the role and influence of societal culture and to understand the impact of organisational subculture on disclosure and responsibility practices. Originality/value Libya provides a point of departure for further research into other transitioning or developing economies, particularly those in the Arab world. It also offers unique insights and the possibility for comparative studies between them due to its particular character. This note augments and adds depth to other studies in the area

Glutamine Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Amidotransferase-independent Phosphoribosyl Amine Synthesis from Ribose 5-Phosphate and Glutamine or Asparagine

Phosphoribosylamine (PRA) is the first intermediate in the common pathway to purines and thiamine and is generated in bacteria by glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) amidotransferase (EC 2.4.2.14) from PRPP and glutamine. Genetic data have indicated that multiple, non-PRPP amidotransferase mechanisms exist to generate PRA sufficient for thiamine but not purine synthesis. Here we describe the purification and identification of an activity (present in both Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica) that synthesizes PRA from ribose 5-phosphate and glutamine/asparagine. A purification resulting in greater than a 625-fold increase in specific activity identified 8 candidate proteins. Of the candidates, overexpression of AphA (EC 3.1.3.2), a periplasmic class B nonspecific acid phosphatase, significantly increased activity in partially purified extracts. Native purification of AphA to >95% homogeneity determined that the periplasmic L-asparaginase II, AnsB (EC 3.5.1.1), co-purified with AphA and was also necessary for PRA formation. The potential physiological relevance of AphA and AnsB in contributing to thiamine biosynthesis in vivo is discussed

Research study for gel precursors as glass and ceramic starting materials for space processing applications research

The development of techniques for the preparation of glass and ceramic starting materials that will result in homogeneous glasses or ceramic products when melted and cooled in a containerless environment is described. Metal-organic starting materials were used to make compounds or mixtures which were then decomposed by hydrolysis reactions to the corresponding oxides. The sodium tungstate system was chosen as a model for a glass with a relatively low melting temperature. The alkoxide tungstates also have interesting optical properties. For all the compositions studied, comparison samples were prepared from inorganic starting materials and submitted to the same analyses

Inhibition of Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by Aminoimidazole Carboxamide Ribotide Prevents Growth of Salmonella enterica purH Mutants on Glycerol

The enzyme fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP) is key regulatory point in gluconeogenesis. Mutants of Salmonella enterica lacking purH accumulate 5-amino-4-imidazole carboxamide ribotide (AICAR) and are unable to utilize glycerol as sole carbon and energy sources. The work described here demonstrates this lack of growth is due to inhibition of FBP by AICAR. Mutant alleles of fbp that restore growth on glycerol encode proteins resistant to inhibition by AICAR and the allosteric regulator AMP. This is the first report of biochemical characterization of substitutions causing AMP resistance in a bacterial FBP. Inhibition of FBP activity by AICAR occurs at physiologically relevant concentrations and may represent a form of regulation of gluconeogenic flux in Salmonella enterica

Ministers of ‘the Black Art’: the engagement of British clergy with photography, 1839-1914

This thesis examines the work of ordained clergymen, of all denominations, who were active photographers between 1839 and the beginning of World War One: its primary aim is to investigate the extent to which a relationship existed between the religious culture of the individual clergyman and the nature of his photographic activities. Ministers of ‘the Black Art’ makes a significant intervention in the study of the history of photography by addressing a major weakness in existing work. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the research draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources such as printed books, sermons, religious pamphlets, parish and missionary newsletters, manuscript diaries, correspondence, notebooks, biographies and works of church history, as well as visual materials including original glass plate negatives, paper prints and lantern slides held in archival collections, postcards, camera catalogues, photographic ephemera and photographically-illustrated books. Through close readings of both textual and visual sources, my thesis argues that factors such as religious denomination, theological opinion and cultural identity helped to influence not only the photographs taken by these clergymen, but also the way in which these photographs were created and used. Conversely, patterns also emerge that provide insights into how different clergymen integrated their photographic activities within their wider religious life and pastoral duties. The relationship between religious culture and photographic aesthetics explored in my thesis contributes to a number of key questions in Victorian Studies, including the tension between clergy and professional scientists as they struggled over claims to authority, participation in debates about rural traditions and church restoration, questions about moral truth and objectivity, as well as the distinctive experience and approaches of Roman Catholic clergy. The research thus demonstrates the range of applications of clerical photography and the extent to which religious factors were significant. Almost 200 clergymen-photographers have been identified during this research, and biographical data is provided in an appendix. Ministers of the Black Art aims at filling a gap in scholarship caused by the absence of any substantial interdisciplinary research connecting the fields of photohistory and religious studies. While a few individual clergymen-photographers have been the subject of academic research – perhaps excessively in the case of Charles Dodgson – no attempt has been made to analyse their activities comprehensively. This thesis is therefore unique in both its far-ranging scope and the fact that the researcher has a background rooted in both theological studies and the history of photography. Ecclesiastical historians are generally as unfamiliar with the technical and aesthetic aspects of photography as photohistorians are with theological nuances and the complex variations of Victorian religious beliefs and practices. This thesis attempts to bridge this gulf, making novel connections between hitherto disparate fields of study. By bringing these religious factors to the foreground, a more nuanced understanding of Victorian visual culture emerges; by taking an independent line away from both the canonical historiography of photography and more recent approaches that depict photography as a means of social control and surveillance, this research will stimulate further discussion about how photography operates on the boundaries between private and public, amateur and professional, material and spiritual

'Mad Dogs and Englishmen’: Hydrophobia, Europhobia and National Tensions in The Mad Death (BBC Scotland, 1983)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Queen Margaret University via the link in this recordBBC Scotland’s three-part series The Mad Death (1983) presented a fictional account of a rabies outbreak on Scottish soil. Although the story was based on a lurid unpublished novel and made use of classic horror tropes, including animal attacks, imprisonment in a baronial manor and terrifying hallucinations, it also reflected the sober tone of public information films and contemporary rabies safety campaigns. Filmed in Scotland and making effective use of Highland locations and actors such as Jimmy Logan, the ‘Scottishness’ of the production was nonetheless undermined by the vague presentation of the physical landscape, uncertainty over the parameters of the Scottish and English authorities, and an uneven depiction of social classes and dialects. A more detailed study of this content reveals the cultural anxieties that underpinned the narrative and characterisation, which remain acutely relevant as the 35thanniversary of the original broadcast approaches. Drawing on original production materials and personal discussions with screenwriter Sean Hignett, this article places The Mad Death in its social, cultural and political context, exploring how the series engaged with questions of national heritage and social identity while at the same time repackaging familiar tropes from the traditions of the horror genre. Particular attention is applied to the ways in which the spread of rabies is used to reflect anxieties about the dangers of European integration, employing language and attitudes that are all too familiar from the ongoing ‘Brexit’ debate in Britain. Through a close analysis of these issues it is possible to provide detailed insights into the production of The Mad Death, the adaptation process and the workings of the Scottish television industry during a time of social and political upheaval. The essay aims at providing a case study from which lessons can be learned that could help guide policy for future Scottish programming