Aspects of career development and information management policies at the Bank of Japan - a frank interview with a former central banker

Relatively little empirical research has been published on the internal affairs of central banks. Secrecy is a key aspect of central banking, and this has posed a major obstacle to researchers. In this paper, an experienced and senior former Bank of Japan official is interviewed concerning the personnel management and information management policies, as well as the informal ‘guidance’ at the Bank of Japan. A number of surprising details emerge concerning the personnel management and information management policies of the Japanese central bank.<br/

Figure-Figure Interaction Between Bodies Having Arbitrary Shapes and Mass Distributions: A Power Series Expansion Approach

We derive an expression for the mutual gravitational force and torque of two bodies having arbitrary shapes and mass distributions, as an expansion in power series of their products of inertia and of the relative coordinates of their centres of mass. The absolute convergence of all the power series developed is rigorously demonstrated. The absence of transcendental functions makes this formalism suitable for fast numerical applications. The products of inertia used here are directly related to the spherical harmonics coefficients, and we provide a detailed analysis of this relationship.Comment: 13 pages, accepted by Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronom

‘He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds’ (Ps 147:3): Perspectives on pastoral care

The psalmist is deeply convinced that God is a reliable addressee to whom those hurt, traumatised and grieving may turn. Churches, by their mandate to share God’s loving-kindness, are obliged to provide opportunities, counselling and pastoral care to those who suffer from violations in their lives. Representatives of the church will do so by proclaiming God’s compassion and pitifulness. This obligation is all the more important as it can be observed that Christians, congregations and churches have oftentimes been part and parcel of processes that caused harm, hurt and trauma to their members or other people

Reformation jubilees : is there cause for celebration in 2017? – What remains?

This article is about the 500 hundred year commemoration of the Reformation in 2017. However, the question is to be asked: What should we celebrate in 2017? The article reflects on this question against the background of the ongoing division within Western Christianity. It discusses objectives laid out by Wolfgang Huber in 2008 for the Luther Decade. These objectives focus on the relationship between church and society, and particularly Lutheranthemes such as ‘hopelessnesses of life’, ‘afflictions of faith’, ‘God’s hiddenness’ and the ‘theology of the cross’. The article demonstrates that the soteriological focal point of Biblical- Lutheran theology reflects the assertion that it is only God who, through the belief in Christ, awards freedom and dignity to every human. The Church represents the ‘metaphor of a Christian fellowship’, which is a fellowship of equals that provides a socio-political impetus.This article, originally written in German and entitled ‘Reformationsjubiläen: Was ist 2017 zufeiern? – Was is bleibt?’, is translated by Klaudia Ringelmannhttp://www.hts.org.zaam201

Confessional Lutheran commitment in the International Lutheran Council - a conservative contribution of Lutheranism to the Ecumenical Age

The contribution of confessional Lutheran churches, especially those affiliated to the International Lutheran Council of the ecumenical movement was regarded more or less as marginal, compared to the mainstream Protestant churches. Rooted in the 16th century Reformation, relating to the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church as comprised in the Book of Concord (1580), these churches in the 19th century rediscovered what might be labelled ‘confessional identity’. Looking at the European scene as a paradigm of secularisation (in spite of necessary differentiations), it is observed how traditional faith, trying not to sever its biblical and confessional roots, approached and reacted to ‘modern’ developments in society and the church. A historical survey, combined with a systematic reflection on Lutheran identity in a post-Christian context, served to diagnose the problems of Christian responsibility in a globalising world. Through the changes and challenges that confront Christianity at the beginning of the 21st century, the confessional Lutheran churches – affiliated to the International Lutheran Council – came to face their ecumenical responsibility. The mission of the Church ought to be reconsidered in terms of its biblical foundation, its historical identity, its confessional self-understanding, and its ecumenical obligation.http://www.hts.org.zaam2013mn201

Confessional Lutheran commitment in the International Lutheran Council - a conservative contribution of Lutheranism to the Ecumenical Age

The contribution of confessional Lutheran churches, especially those affiliated to the International Lutheran Council of the ecumenical movement was regarded more or less as marginal, compared to the mainstream Protestant churches. Rooted in the 16th century Reformation, relating to the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church as comprised in the Book of Concord (1580), these churches in the 19th century rediscovered what might be labelled ‘confessional identity’. Looking at the European scene as a paradigm of secularisation (in spite of necessary differentiations), it is observed how traditional faith, trying not to sever its biblical and confessional roots, approached and reacted to ‘modern’ developments in society and the church. A historical survey, combined with a systematic reflection on Lutheran identity in a post-Christian context, served to diagnose the problems of Christian responsibility in a globalising world. Through the changes and challenges that confront Christianity at the beginning of the 21st century, the confessional Lutheran churches – affiliated to the International Lutheran Council – came to face their ecumenical responsibility. The mission of the Church ought to be reconsidered in terms of its biblical foundation, its historical identity, its confessional self-understanding, and its ecumenical obligation.http://www.hts.org.zaam2013mn201

Real presence. Outline of an ecumenical review

The issue of an adequate description, a conceptual formulation and a theological interpretation of the gift of the Lord’s Supper, has been a concern of Christianity since ancient times. The circumspect observation in the Charta Oecumenica (2001) reads: ‘Fundamental differences in faith are still barriers to visible unity’. In the light of those difficulties, attempts have been made in recent years to work on a ‘Joint Declaration on the Lord’s Supper’. All churches and denominations face the challenge to bring that which they learn of Jesus Christ’s sacramental presence from the New Testament. Some rapprochements have been achieved in the last decades. Some of those results are discussed in this essay.This article is translated from the German article ‘Realpräsenz. Skizze einer ökumenischen Bestandsaufnahme‘ by Klaudia Ringelmann.http://www.hts.org.zaam2016Church History and Church Polic

Properties of a beam splitter entangler with Gaussian input states

An explicit formula is given for the quantity of entanglement in the output state of a beam splitter, given the squeezed vacuum states input in each mode.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Symbiont identity matters: carbon and phosphorus fluxes between Medicago truncatula and different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Many studies have scrutinized the nutritional benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizal associations to their host plants, while the carbon (C) balance of the symbiosis has often been neglected. Here, we present quantification of both the C costs and the phosphorus (P) uptake benefits of mycorrhizal association between barrel medic (Medicago truncatula) and three arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species, namely Glomus intraradices, Glomus claroideum, and Gigaspora margarita. Plant growth, P uptake and C allocation were assessed 7 weeks after sowing by comparing inoculated plants with their non-mycorrhizal counterparts, supplemented with different amounts of P. Isotope tracing (3)(3)P and (1)(3)C) was used to quantify both the mycorrhizal benefits and the costs, respectively. G. intraradices supported greatest plant P acquisition and incurred high C costs, which lead to similar plant growth benefits as inoculation with G. claroideum, which was less efficient in supporting plant P acquisition, but also required less C. G. margarita imposed large C requirement on the host plant and provided negligible P uptake benefits. However, it did not significantly reduce plant growth due to sink strength stimulation of plant photosynthesis. A simple experimental system such as the one established here should allow quantification of mycorrhizal costs and benefits routinely on a large number of experimental units. This is necessary for rapid progress in assessment of C fluxes between the plants and different mycorrhizal fungi or fungal communities, and for understanding the dynamics between mutualism and parasitism in mycorrhizal symbioses