The main problem of the Spanish local finance system derives from the existence of two opposite models: LOFCA model versus Floral system. As a result of this opposition, the Spanish system has moved some distance away from the theoretical principles of sound fiscal federalism. The analysis carried out in the article points out clearly the need to improve the fiscal mechanisms of responsibility and financial autonomy and to introduce a system of interjurisdictional responsibility which should palliate the defects detected in (...) the actual system in order to maximise the political and economic advantages of an authentic fiscal decentralisation.Le problème majeur du système espagnol de finances locales réside dans l’existence de deux modèles opposés: le modèle LOFCA et le système Floral. En raison de cette opposition, le système espagnol s’est considérablement écarté des principes affirmés par la théorie d’un authentique fédéralisme fiscal. L’analyse conduite dans l’article met en évidence la nécessité d’améliorer les mécanismes fiscaux de responsabilité et d’autonomie financière des collectivités locales espagnoles en introduisant un système de responsabilité inter-juridictionnelle capable d’éliminer les incohérences du système ; ce qui permettra de tirer pleinement partie des avantages politiques et économiques inhérents à la décentralisation fiscale. (shrink)

The interaction between cavity modes and optical transitions leads to new coupled light-matter states in which the energy is periodically exchanged between the matter states and the optical mode. Here we present experimental evidence of optical strong coupling between modes of individual sub-wavelength metamaterial nanocavities and engineered optical transitions in semiconductor heterostructures. We show that this behaviour is generic by extending the results from the mid-infrared to the near-infrared. Using mid-infrared structures, we demonstrate that the light-matter coupling occurs at the (...) single resonator level and with extremely small interaction volumes. We calculate a mode volume of 4.9 × 10 from which we infer that only ~2,400 electrons per resonator participate in this energy exchange process. (shrink)

L'influence decisive de Christian Wolff sur la pensee du XVIIIe siecle ne saurait plus etre mise en question aujourd'hui. Toutefois, les commentateurs ont longtemps pris a la lettre la critique kantienne du wolffianisme, assimilant la doctrine de Wolff a celle de ses disciples et mettant l'accent presque exclusivement sur la rupture accomplie par l'oeuvre de Kant. Cela a contribue a sous-estimer le role considerable joue par Wolff dans la constitution du criticisme. Les etudes rassemblees dans ce volume se proposent d'interroger (...) les multiples formes sous lesquelles la conception wolffienne a determine le Denkweg kantien et de preciser comment la philosophie de Kant s'articule a celle de Wolff. Ni simple opposition, ni continuite sans heurt, le rapport de Kant a Wolff est complexe et passionnant, et demande, aujourd'hui encore, des analyses prenant en compte l'ensemble des disciplines philosophiques. (shrink)

The European Clinical Trials Directive (EU 2001; 2001/20/EC) was introduced to improve the efficiency of commercial and academic clinical trials. Concerns have been raised by interested organizations and institutions regarding the potential for negative impact of the Directive on non-commercial European clinical research. Interested researchers within the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) were surveyed to determine whether researcher experiences confirmed this view. Following a pilot study, an internet-based questionnaire was distributed to individuals in key research positions in (...) the European haemopoietic SCT community. Seventy-one usable questionnaires were returned from participants in different EU member states. The results indicate that the perceived impact of the European Clinical Trials Directive has been negative, at least in the research areas of interest to the EBMT. (shrink)

Studies have shown that as MRI T2 relaxation time lengthens there is a shift toward more unbound or “free-water” and less partitioning of the protein/lipid molecules per unit volume. A shift toward less water partitioning or lengthened MRI T2 relaxation time is linearly related to reduced high frequency EEG amplitude, reduced short distance EEG coherence, increased long distance EEG coherence, and reduced cognitive functioning (Thatcher et al. 1998a; 1998b).

“Multiculturalism”, “pluralism” and “tolerance” have become buzz words in applied ethics. While serious and well thought out work is going on in these areas, a misunderstanding of the importance of tolerance, and the difficulties raised by multicultural moral conflict seems common. In this paper I argue that intolerance of some cultural traditions is morally required, and suggest that the forging of a moral mono-culture is preferable to pluralism.

The object of this article is to discuss, defend, and supplement the only definite piece of evidence we possess which deals with the musical scalesreferred to by Plato in the Republic . In this first section I shall consider the list of scales given by Aristides Quintilianus and suggest the source from which it is derived; in the second part the employment of certain abnormal intervals will be established and elucidated; and finally the evidence of the preceding sections will be (...) reviewed from the standpoint of the Pythagorean musical theory. (shrink)

A number of Democritean fragments may loosely be called ‘political’, concerned as they are with questions to do with the πλις – with government, with the duties and dangers of public office, with justice, law and order. The majority of them have been preserved in chapters of Stobaeus’ anthology entitled ‘On the State’ , ‘On Laws and Customs’ , ‘On Government’.

The statistical properties of a single quantum object and an ensemble of independent such objects are considered in detail for two-level systems. Computer simulations of dynamic zero-point quantum fluctuations for a single quantum object are reported and compared with analytic solutions for the ensemble case.

The idea of creaturely life has, in recent years, emerged as an important and illuminating category of literary and philosophical critique. In this paper I seek to contribute to this contemporary discourse by examining the references to the creaturely found in the writings of T.W. Adorno. Whilst much attention has been paid to Walter Benjamin’s reflections on creatureliness, Adorno, a thinker with whom Benjamin is often associated, has received comparatively little in this regard. I begin to redress this lacuna by (...) developing a reading of key passages of Dialectic of Enlightenment which orients itself towards Adorno’s remarks concerning the ‘inverse theology’ which he sees as grounding both his own, and Benjamin’s, thought. In placing theological core of Adorno’s philosophy in the foreground of my analysis, I argue that the notion of the creature, which I claim signifies a redemptive perspective on human existence, can be read as an important, if somewhat overlooked, concept in the normative framework of the Dialectic of Enlightenment. (shrink)

[opening paragraph]: The following comments are from a psychologist, involved in the study of complex human information processing such as problem-solving, in which overt behaviour cannot be isolated from the subject's representation, since it is the prototype of goal-directed activity. In that respect perception, i.e. interpretation of the situation, is intrinsically linked to action, i.e. to changing the situation so as to complete the goal. In that field representation cannot be assimilated to consciousness, and it is very important, in my (...) opinion, to understand what makes a representation become conscious and what is changed in behaviour when an implicit representation becomes explicit and reportable; and to develop a precise methodology for obtaining and analysing verbal reports, which are in those situations the only ways of access to the subjective experience of other people. (shrink)

Draws on examples ranging from prehistoric cave art to modern pop music to discuss the nature and purpose of art and its use by powerful social and cultural forces.

Nos três problemas preambulares e nas primeiras lições do Commentarium in De anima atribuído a Pedro Hispano, o autor: 1) discute a possibilidade de urna ciência da alma; 2) compara a ciência da alma com as outras ciências naturais; 3) identifica o método da ciência da alma. Daí emerge uma fundamentação da "ciência da alma" como "ciência do homem" e um modelo de organização das ciências, tendencialmente coincidente com a organização do corpus aristotélico, mas com a reivindicação da superioridade da (...) Ciência da alma por razões gnosiológicas. (shrink)