The Power of Ideas: Some Remarks about Two Recent Books on the History of Medieval Political Thought

This essay discusses the historiography of Western medieval political thought, as reflected in "Il pensiero politico medievale" by Gianluca Briguglia and "Il potere al plurale: un profilo di storia del pensiero politico medievale" by Roberto Lambertini and Mario Conetti. These two volumes propose vastly different approaches to the topic both in terms of chronology and focus, the first focusing mainly on texts, the other primarily on practices and institutions. Read in conjunction with one another, these books testify to the complexities involved in conceptualizing the emergence and development of political ideas in Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and the era of the Renaissance and the Reformation

Inventing Modernity in Medieval European Thought ca. 1100–ca. 1550

One of the most challenging problems in the history of Western ideas stems from the emergence of Modernity out of the preceding period of the Latin Middle Ages. This volume develops and extends the insights of the noted scholar Thomas M. Izbicki into the so-called medieval/modern divide. The contributors include a wide array of eminent international scholars from the fields of History, Theology, Philosophy, and Political Science, all of whom explore how medieval ideas framed and shaped the thought of later centuries. This sometimes involved the evolution of intellectual principles associated with the definition and imposition of religious orthodoxy. Also addressed is the Great Schism in the Roman Church that set into question the foundations of ecclesiology. In the same era, philosophical and theoretical innovations reexamined conventional beliefs about metaphysics, epistemology and political life, perhaps best encapsulated by the fifteenth-century philosopher, theologian and political theorist Nicholas of Cusa.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/mip_smemc/1003/thumbnail.jp

Christophe Grellard, Jean de Salisbury et la renaissance médiévale du scepticisme

Depuis environ une génération, la réflexion sur la pensée et la carrière de l’éminent homme d’église et auteur anglais Jean de Salisbury avance à grands pas. The World of John of Salisbury, une compilation d’essais issus de la conférence de 1980 commémorant les 800 ans de la mort de Jean contient essentiellement des recherches alors bien datées, pour ne pas dire dépassées (en effet, plusieurs des chapitres de ce livre étaient soit des rééditions, soit des résumés de travaux qui avaient été pu..

Kamp och försoning - en analys av Gustaf Auléns försoningsteologi utifrån ett befrielseteologiskt perspektiv

Denna uppsats innehåller i huvudsak en redogörelse och analys av Gustaf Auléns försoningsteologi. Därutöver innehåller uppsatsen en kortfattad redogörelse av befrielseteologen Leonardo Boffs tankar om försoning, med syfte att ge underlag för en analys av Gustaf Auléns försoningsteologi utifrån ett befrielseteologiskt perspektiv. I uppsatsen förs också en diskussion om hur olika uppfattningar om gudsbild, kristologi och syndbegrepp påverkar förståelsen av den kristna försoningen samt hur innebörden av försoningen kan fortsätta i nuet. I diskussionen om de olika försoningstolkningarna berörs också frågan om ortopraxis kontra ortodoxi. Redogörelsen av Gustaf Auléns försoningsteologi grundar sig främst på följande böcker: Den kristna försoningstanken, Dramat och symbolerna - En bok om gudsbildens problematik och Den allmänneliga kristna tron. Beskrivningen av Leonardo Boffs försoningsteologi gundas främst på boken Jesus Christ Liberator – A critical Christology For Our Time

Public place, female space

The urban population is rapidly expanding and Africa has the fastest growing population in the world. Zanzibar Town is the urban, densely populated area in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island state in Tanzania. During the last fifty years, the population has increased by 630% in the city. Due to a combination of lack of planning and adequate infrastructure, extensive areas with informal settlements have developed. This has led to the development of ZanPlan, a comprehensive planning guide for Zanzibar Town. Kihinani is one area pointed out in ZanPlan for further development, due to informal settlements. In informal areas, it is important to provide public space, it creates a sense of community and improves the life quality for the people. In the Zanzibari culture, social life takes place on the streets, but there is a notable difference in how women and men use public space. It is a behaviour firmly rooted in cultural norms, resulting in women spending most of their time at home. The fifth Sustainable Development Goal from the United Nations states that women should have equal participation and involvement in politics, economy and public life. Successful urban planning needs involvement by the local people and women is one group in society which is often ignored in the planning process. The thesis aims to propose a structure plan, with housing, public space and service, for Kihinani and to include women in our planning process. For this, we used the following methods; analysis of ZanPlan, analysis of the site and several different types of interviews with local authorities and women. The information from these methods was analysed and summarised to five strategies, and in conjunction with sketching and discussions, the strategies were used to propose the structure plan for Kihinani. By including women in the planning process, we do not necessarily change the physical outcome of the structure plan. However, the inclusion might make women acknowledging that they can influence planning and this could create a social process where people get more engaged in planning and feel more responsible for their community and neighbourhood. The limited time spent in Zanzibar and our lack of cultural background could have caused gaps in the study. Nevertheless, there are advantages with new viewpoints and this project can work as an inspiration for further planning of Kihinani in the future.Den urbana befolkningen expanderar och Afrika har den snabbast växande befolkningen i världen. Zanzibar Stad är den urbana regionen i Zanzibar, en semi-autonom region i Tanzania. Under de senaste femtio åren har befolkning i Zanzibar Stad ökat med 630 % och i kombination med bristande planering och adekvat infrastruktur har omfattande områden med informella bosättningar utvecklats. Detta har lett till utvecklingen av ZanPlan, ett översiktligt planeringsdokument för Zanzibar stad. Kihinani är ett av de områden som pekas ut i ZanPlan för utveckling som följd av informell bosättning. I informella områden är det viktigt med offentliga rum, de kan skapa samhörighet och förbättra livskvaliteten för invånarna. På Zanzibar sker det sociala livet på gatorna, men det finns en anmärkningsvärd skillnad i hur kvinnor och män använder det offentliga rummet. Det är ett beteende som är grundat i kulturella och strukturella normer, vilket leder till att kvinnor spenderar större delen av sin tid hemma. Det femte globala hållbarhetsmålet från FN fastslår att kvinnor ska ha samma möjligheter till deltagande i politik, ekonomi och offentligt liv. Kvinnor är en grupp i samhället som ofta ignoreras i planeringsprocessen men för en framgångsrik stadsplanering behövs engagemang av lokalbefolkningen, däribland även kvinnor. Denna uppsats syftar till att föreslå en strukturplan innehållande boende, offentliga rum och service för Kihinani, där vi inkluderar kvinnor i vår planeringsprocess. För detta använde vi följande metoder; analys av ZanPlan, analys av området och flera olika typer av intervjuer med lokala myndigheter och kvinnor. Informationen från dessa metoder, tillsammans med resultat från skissarbete och diskussioner, analyserades och sammanfattades i fem strategier som använts för att föreslå gestaltning av en strukturplan för Kihinani. Att inkludera kvinnor i planeringsprocessen förändrade inte nödvändigtvis det fysiska resultatet av strukturplanen. Integreringen kan dock möjliggöra för kvinnor att känna att de kan påverka planeringen och det kan skapa en social process där människor blir mer engagerade i planering och känner sig mer delaktiga i sitt samhälle och grannskap. Med den begränsade tid som spenderades på Zanzibar i kombination med bristen på kulturell förankring kan ha orsakat luckor i studien och det finns risk att vi har bristande förståelse för kulturen, normer och platsen. Det finns dock fördelar med nya infallsvinklar och detta projekt kan fungera som inspiration för framtida planering av Kihinani

What Makes Some People Think Astrology Is Scientific?

Citizens in both North America and Europe are apt to read horoscope columns in newspapers and magazines. While some people read these casually and purely for entertainment, some believe that astrology has scientific status and can provide real insight into events and personality. Using data from a European survey, this article explores some of the reasons why some people think that astrology is scientific and how astrology is viewed in relation to other knowledge-producing practices. Three hypotheses in particular are tested. The first is that some Europeans lack the necessary scientific literacy to distinguish science from pseudoscience. The second is that people are confused about what astrology actually is. The third is derived from Adorno’s work on authoritarianism and the occult and postulates that those who adhere to authoritarian values are more likely to believe in astrological claims. Support is found for all three hypotheses. </jats:p

Emergent Properties of Tumor Microenvironment in a Real-life Model of Multicell Tumor Spheroids

Multicellular tumor spheroids are an important {\it in vitro} model of the pre-vascular phase of solid tumors, for sizes well below the diagnostic limit: therefore a biophysical model of spheroids has the ability to shed light on the internal workings and organization of tumors at a critical phase of their development. To this end, we have developed a computer program that integrates the behavior of individual cells and their interactions with other cells and the surrounding environment. It is based on a quantitative description of metabolism, growth, proliferation and death of single tumor cells, and on equations that model biochemical and mechanical cell-cell and cell-environment interactions. The program reproduces existing experimental data on spheroids, and yields unique views of their microenvironment. Simulations show complex internal flows and motions of nutrients, metabolites and cells, that are otherwise unobservable with current experimental techniques, and give novel clues on tumor development and strong hints for future therapies.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in PLOS One. The published version contains links to a supplementary text and three video file

Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase III Study of Tasquinimod in Men With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

PURPOSE: Tasquinimod, a novel oral therapy targeting the tumor microenvironment, significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in a randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). This phase III study was conducted to confirm the phase II results and to detect an overall survival (OS) benefit. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Men with chemotherapy-naïve mCRPC and evidence of bone metastases were assigned (2:1) to receive tasquinimod once per day or placebo until progression or toxicity. The primary end point was radiographic PFS (rPFS; time from random assignment to radiologic progression or death) per Prostate Cancer Working Group 2 criteria and RECIST 1.1. The study had 99.9% power to detect an rPFS hazard ratio (HR) of 0.6 with a two-sided alpha error of .05 and 80% power to detect a target HR of 0.8 for OS, the key secondary end point. RESULTS: In all, 1,245 patients were randomly assigned to either tasquinimod (n = 832) or placebo (n = 413) between March 2011 and December 2012 at 241 sites in 37 countries. Baseline characteristics were balanced between groups: median age, 71 years; Karnofsky performance status ≥ 90%, 77.3%; and visceral metastases, 21.1%. Estimated median rPFS by central review was 7.0 months (95% CI, 5.8 to 8.2 months) with tasquinimod and 4.4 months (95% CI, 3.5 to 5.5 months) with placebo (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.75; P < .001). Median OS was 21.3 months (95% CI, 19.5 to 23.0 months) with tasquinimod and 24.0 months (95% CI, 21.4 to 26.9 months) with placebo (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.28; P = .25). Grade ≥ 3 adverse events were more frequent with tasquinimod (42.8% v 33.6%), the most common being anemia, fatigue, and cancer pain. CONCLUSION: In chemotherapy-naïve men with mCRPC, tasquinimod significantly improved rPFS compared with placebo. However, no OS benefit was observed

E-Cadherin–dependent Growth Suppression is Mediated by the Cyclin-dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27KIP1

Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of E-cadherin, a homophilic cell–cell adhesion molecule, in contact inhibition of growth of normal epithelial cells. Many tumor cells also maintain strong intercellular adhesion, and are growth-inhibited by cell– cell contact, especially when grown in three-dimensional culture. To determine if E-cadherin could mediate contact-dependent growth inhibition of nonadherent EMT/6 mouse mammary carcinoma cells that lack E-cadherin, we transfected these cells with an exogenous E-cadherin expression vector. E-cadherin expression in EMT/6 cells resulted in tighter adhesion of multicellular spheroids and a reduced proliferative fraction in three-dimensional culture. In addition to increased cell–cell adhesion, E-cadherin expression also resulted in dephosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein, an increase in the level of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27kip1 and a late reduction in cyclin D1 protein. Tightly adherent spheroids also showed increased levels of p27 bound to the cyclin E-cdk2 complex, and a reduction in cyclin E-cdk2 activity. Exposure to E-cadherin–neutralizing antibodies in three-dimensional culture simultaneously prevented adhesion and stimulated proliferation of E-cadherin transfectants as well as a panel of human colon, breast, and lung carcinoma cell lines that express functional E-cadherin. To test the importance of p27 in E-cadherin–dependent growth inhibition, we engineered E-cadherin–positive cells to express inducible p27. By forcing expression of p27 levels similar to those observed in aggregated cells, the stimulatory effect of E-cadherin–neutralizing antibodies on proliferation could be inhibited. This study demonstrates that E-cadherin, classically described as an invasion suppressor, is also a major growth suppressor, and its ability to inhibit proliferation involves upregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27