How to play fair in international environmental agreements? - Bridging psychological and economic methods

Global public good provision (e.g. environmental quality) confronts us with problems demanding both national and international co-operation. However among sovereign nations reaching agreement on mutual public good provision is difficult. Slowing down global warming is just one example. Due to the diffusion of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere it is attractive for each individual state that other countries commit themselves to climate protection, whereas one's own state using the free-rider-strategy benefits from the protective measures of the others without making any costly national contribution. On the other hand such a strategic behaviour clashes with moral values, especially concerning motives of justice within society. Should free-riding be preferred from the strategic point of view or rather, out of consideration to justice, national commitments to contribute to climate protection? Therefore, an analysis of how appraisals of justice and strategic considerations interact is a challenge to international (environmental) policy. Taking a game-theoretic point of view, we analyse three psychological-empirical conceptions of justice: need, equality and equity, and point out how these principles are able to determine the type of game nations are expected to play. --

The Basics of Display Calculi

The aim of this paper is to introduce and explain display calculi for a variety of logics. We provide a survey of key results concerning such calculi, though we focus mainly on the global cut elimination theorem. Propositional, first-order, and modal display calculi are considered and their properties detailed

Epiphanies at the Supermarket: An Interview with Brigitte Kronauer

Brigitte Kronauer has been called the greatest German [female] fiction writer of our time (Marcel Reich-Ranicki). Her stories, novels, and criticism have established her as a uniquely sophisticated literary voice and won her many literary prizes. Kronauer\u27s trademarks are her laser-sharp vision, her luminous prose, and the intricate structures of her uncannily realistic literary universes. Finding the mystical in the mundane and exposing human foibles with subtle irony, Kronauer creates, in the words of one critic, epiphanies at the supermarket. Beneath its everyday surface her fiction deals with the eternal human questions of life, death, and love. At a still deeper level it circles around philosophical issues such as our futile attempts to find truth in our own constructs of reality. In her interview with Jutta Ittner the author reflects on her individual path to writing. She describes the role of literature in creating a semblance of order in a multifaceted reality, and she discusses the structure of her literary universes, her characters and their aspirations, and the importance of animals for man\u27s quest for a meaningful life. Finally, Kronauer explains how she sees herself in terms of women\u27s literature and indicates where her writing is headed

Tau-Targeted Immunization Impedes Progression of Neurofibrillary Histopathology in Aged P301L Tau Transgenic Mice

In Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains, the microtubule-associated protein tau and amyloid-β (Aβ) deposit as intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and extracellular plaques, respectively. Tau deposits are furthermore found in a significant number of frontotemporal dementia cases. These diseases are characterized by progressive neurodegeneration, the loss of intellectual capabilities and behavioral changes. Unfortunately, the currently available therapies are limited to symptomatic relief. While active immunization against Aβ has shown efficacy in both various AD mouse models and patients with AD, immunization against pathogenic tau has only recently been shown to prevent pathology in young tau transgenic mice. However, if translated to humans, diagnosis and treatment would be routinely done when symptoms are overt, meaning that the histopathological changes have already progressed. Therefore, we used active immunization to target pathogenic tau in 4, 8, and 18 months-old P301L tau transgenic pR5 mice that have an onset of NFT pathology at 6 months of age. In all age groups, NFT pathology was significantly reduced in treated compared to control pR5 mice. Similarly, phosphorylation of tau at pathological sites was reduced. In addition, increased astrocytosis was found in the oldest treated group. Taken together, our data suggests that tau-targeted immunization slows the progression of NFT pathology in mice, with practical implications for human patients

Neuronal microRNA eeregulation in response to Alzheimer's disease Amyloid-β

Normal brain development and function depends on microRNA (miRNA) networks to fine tune the balance between the transcriptome and proteome of the cell. These small non-coding RNA regulators are highly enriched in brain where they play key roles in neuronal development, plasticity and disease. In neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), brain miRNA profiles are altered; thus miRNA dysfunction could be both a cause and a consequence of disease. Our study dissects the complexity of human AD pathology, and addresses the hypothesis that amyloid-beta (Abeta) itself, a known causative factor of AD, causes neuronal miRNA deregulation, which could contribute to the pathomechanisms of AD. We used sensitive TaqMan low density miRNA arrays (TLDA) on murine primary hippocampal cultures to show that about half of all miRNAs tested were down-regulated in response to Abeta peptides. Time-course assays of neuronal Abeta treatments show that Abeta is in fact a powerful regulator of miRNA levels as the response of certain mature miRNAs is extremely rapid. Bioinformatic analysis predicts that the deregulated miRNAs are likely to affect target genes present in prominent neuronal pathways known to be disrupted in AD. Remarkably, we also found that the miRNA deregulation in hippocampal cultures was paralleled in vivo by a deregulation in the hippocampus of Abeta42-depositing APP23 mice, at the onset of Abeta plaque formation. In addition, the miRNA deregulation in hippocampal cultures and APP23 hippocampus overlaps with those obtained in human AD studies. Taken together, our findings suggest that neuronal miRNA deregulation in response to an insult by Abeta may be an important factor contributing to the cascade of events leading to AD.N.S. is supported by the Human Frontier Science Program. L.I. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Australian Research Council (ARC), and J.G. is supported by grants from the University of Sydney, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Research Council (ARC), and the J.O. & J.R. Wicking Trust. Postgraduate scholarship support has been provided by the Wenkart Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline and Alzheimer’s Australia

Determinants of Performance Measure Choices in Worker Incentive Plans

This study examines the determinants of performance measure choices in worker incentive plans. The results indicate that inform- ativeness issues such as those addressed in economic theories have a significant effect on measurement choices. However, other reasons for adopting the plans, such as upgrading the workforce and linking bonuses to the firm’s ability to pay, also influence measurement choices, as do union representation and management participation in plan design. Moreover, the factors influencing the use of specific measures vary, suggesting that the aggregate performance measure classifications commonly used in compensation research provide somewhat misleading inferences regarding performance measurement choices

Assessing Empirical Research in Managerial Accounting: A Value-Based Management Perspective

This paper applies a value-based management framework to critically review empirical research in managerial accounting. This framework enables us to place the exceptionally diverse set of managerial accounting studies from the past several decades into an integrated structure. Our synthesis highlights the many consistent results in prior research, identifies remaining gaps and inconsistencies, discusses common methodological and econometric problems, and suggests fruitful avenues for future managerial accounting research