Secret origins of the state: the structural basis of raison d'état

The Italian city-state system occupies a special place in the canon of orthodox international relations. For, as Martin Wight says, ‘it was among the Italian powers that feudal relationships first disappeared and the efficient, self-sufficient secular state was evolved, and the Italian powers invented the diplomatic system’. And of course this was not all they invented. In addition to the earliest modern discourse of Realpolitik (‘Machiavelli’, Carr tells us, ‘is the first important political realist’), it is in the Italian city-states that we find the first routine use of double-entry book-keeping, of publicly traded state debt, of marine insurance, of sophisticated instruments of credit (such as the bill of exchange), of commercial and banking firms coordinating branch activity across the continent, and so on. Here, too, the citizen militias gave way earliest to the mercenary armies that would later characterize European Absolutism; and within the town walls, a population given over increasingly to commerce and manufacture elaborated new forms of urban class conflict

Heterozygote Expression in Propionyl Coenzyme A Carboxylase Deficiency DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MAJOR COMPLEMENTATION GROUPS

A B S T R A C T We measured propionyl coenzyme A carboxylase (PCC) activity in extracts of skin fibroblasts and peripheral blood leukocytes from controls and obligate heterozygotes for PCC deficiency. 6 heterozygotes were from the pcc A complementation group; 12 were from the other major complementation group, designated pcc C. Mean PCC activity in fibroblast extracts from pcc A heterozygotes was 52% of that in controls, whereas mean PCC activity in pcc C heterozygotes was indistinguishable from that of controls. Similar results were obtained with extracts of peripheral blood leukocytes. In none of eight families (three pcc A and five pcc C) in which PCC activity was studied in both parents of an affected child were significant intrafamilial differences observed. The activities of two other mitochondrial enzymes (13-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase and glutamate dehydrogenase) were comparable in controls and both groups of heterozygotes. Whereas the data from pcc A heterozygotes are consistent with expected gene dosage effects, those from pcc C heterozygotes are not. Inasmuch as mammalian PCC is a large molecular weight tetramer, each protomer of which is probably composed of two nonidentical subunits, the latter results are most consistent with unbalanced rates of synthesis and(or) degradation of the two subunits in normal cells with compensatory balancing in pcc C heterozygotes

Benthos biomass and oxygen deficiency in the upwelling system off Peru

Data are presented on macrobenthic (≥ 1 mm) biomass and species composition, sulfur bacteria (Thioploca), demersal fish catches, organic content of sediment and dissolved oxygen at 65 stations (35-360 m) along the upwelling area off north Peru in 1980-1981. Oxygen concentration close to the bottom was high only down to about 20 m depth and at 20-700 m it was generally \u3c 0.8 ml l−1. Organic content of sediment increased significantly with water depth. Macrofauna were found at all stations with a general dominance of small polychaetes. Macrofaunal biomass showed a significant positive correlation with oxygen concentration; below 0.6 ml l−1 of oxygen biomass was impoverished. No correlation was found between biomass and depth. A mean macrofaunal biomass of 5.9 g 0.1 m−3 was recorded at depths \u3c 100 m and 3.1 g 0.1 m−3 at 100-200 m. Biomass was higher in the north compared with the south and showed a significant positive correlation with demersal fish catches. In contrast, Thioploca biomass showed a significant negative correlation both with macrobenthic biomass and demersal fish catches. From this study and previous work, we conclude that oxygen concentration was the dominant ecological factor determining macrobenthic biomass and species composition in the upwelling area off Peru and northern Chile. The benthic fauna living in low oxygen concentrations have probably developed this tolerance through evolutionary adaptation. Based on oxygen concentration and exposure, five zones in this upwelling area are characterized and their dominant benthic macrofauna documented

Environmental risk factors for oesophageal cancer in Malawi: A case-control study

Aim There is a high burden of oesophageal cancer in Malawi with dismal outcomes. It is not known whether environmental factors are associated with oesophageal cancer. Without knowing this critical information, prevention interventions are not possible. The purpose of this analysis was to explore environmental factors associated with oesophageal cancer in the Malawian context.Methods A hospital-based case-control study of the association between environmental risk factors and oesophageal cancer was conducted at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. Ninety-six persons with squamous cell carcinoma and 180 controls were enrolled and analyzed. These two groups were compared for a range of environmental risk factors, using logistic regression models. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.Results Firewood cooking, cigarette smoking, and use of white maize flour all had strong associations with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, with adjusted odds ratios of 12.6 (95% CI: 4.2-37.7), 5.4 (95% CI: 2.0-15.2) and 6.6 (95% CI: 2.3-19.3), respectively.Conclusions Several modifiable risk factors were found to be strongly associated with squamous cell carcinoma. Research is needed to confirm these associations and then determine how to intervene on these modifiable risk factors in the Malawian context

Electromagnetic Polarization Effects due to Axion Photon Mixing

We investigate the effect of axions on the polarization of electromagnetic waves as they propagate through astronomical distances. We analyze the change in the dispersion of the electromagnetic wave due to its mixing with axions. We find that this leads to a shift in polarization and turns out to be the dominant effect for a wide range of frequencies. We analyze whether this effect or the decay of photons into axions can explain the large scale anisotropies which have been observed in the polarizations of quasars and radio galaxies. We also comment on the possibility that the axion-photon mixing can explain the dimming of distant supernovae.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur