The complex sensation of vision begins with the relatively simple photoisomerization of the visual pigment chromophore 11-cis-retinal to its all-trans configuration. This event initiates a series of biochemical reactions that are collectively referred to as phototransduction, which ultimately lead to a change in the electrochemical signaling of the photoreceptor cell. To operate in a wide range of light intensities, however, the phototransduction pathway must allow for adjustments to background light. These take place through physiological adaptation processes that rely primarily on (...) Ca2+ ions. While Ca2+ may modulate some activities directly, it is more often the case that Ca2+-binding proteins mediate between transient changes in the concentration of Ca2+ and the adaptation processes that are associated with phototransduction. Recently, combined genetic, physiological, and biochemical analyses have yielded new insights about the properties and functions of many phototransduction-specific components, including some novel Ca2+-binding proteins. Understanding these Ca2+-binding proteins will provide a more complete picture of visual transduction, including the mechanisms associated with adaptation, and of related degenerative diseases. BioEssays 22:337–350, 2000. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

The prevailing model of teaching business administration at Catholic universities does not sufficiently differentiate Catholic institutions; it does not live up to the expectations of the Church; and it underplays the potential of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition to elucidate the sphere of business. Attempting to integrate business administration into the “liberal arts” is a misguided approach, for barring an implementation of the historical liberal arts curriculum there is no non-arbitrary way of defining what the term denotes. From an Aristotelian perspective (...) as carried on in the Thomistic tradition, reality is continuous, and all social and behavioral sciences are unified in their material object while they study persons under different aspects. Business is a region of human behavior, and its study naturally coheres with other disciplines. The practice of business is ontologically integrated into a reality that unifies man, his actions, and their results,and its study is integrated into the academic edifice through the use of the Catholic style of thought. This model facilitates a new understanding of teaching and research in business administration, in what is hoped to be a more Catholic spirit. (shrink)

Ab dem Frühjahr 1532 rückt wieder die Reichspolitik ins Zentrum von Bucers Aufmerksamkeit, als in Schweinfurt in seiner Gegenwart die Verhandlungen über einen befristeten Waffenstillstand zwischen Kaiser und Protestanten beginnen. Erst Bucers theologische Gutachten und Argumentationshilfen eröffnen den Oberdeutschen dort die Möglichkeit, die Lehrformulierungen der Confessio Augustana und ihrer Apologie mitzutragen.

Zodiacal and Planetary ‘decani’. The 36 ecliptical ‘decani’ (sectors of 10°) were distributed either to the twelve zodiacal signs or to the seven planets. The first system has been transmitted only by the Roman didactic poet Manilius, who commits an error at the end of his catalogue that can be explained by comparing it with the more frequent planetary one. Both systems follow the Roman calendar beginning with the Ram respectively Mars. Although the zodiacal system (36 : 12) runs without (...) remainder whereas the planetary one (36 : 7) repeats Mars once more (six times), so that it both begins and ends with this planet, this planetary system prevails. Four possible astrological reasons of this contradiction are discussed including other texts, mostly taken from the ‘Babylonian’ Teucrus (at the latest first century BC), who represents the first witness, if not the inventor of this particular lore. (shrink)

In Protestant theology, values are widely neglected because new sociological and philosophical theories of values arenot taken into consideration. In this paper, the author argues that the theory of values as it is developed by the sociologist Hans Joas is a helpful instrument to understand the connection between freedom, justification, and habit. 1t becomes clear that Christi an belief results in a certain way of everyday ethics and spirituality that needs empirical observation and theological reflection.

This is the first complete edition of Schleiermacher's 1820/21 lectures on education, which have hitherto only been available in a drastically abridged version concentrating on the topic of "Punishment and discipline". Notes taken by an unknown student, and published here in modern spelling, clearly show that this concentration does not do justice to Schleiermacher's theory of education. The text is accompanied by a detailed introduction, numerous explanatory notes and a comprehensive subject index.

Meets what? Ranking theory is, as far as I know, the only existing theory suited for underpinning Keith Lehrer’s account of knowledge and justification. If this is true, it’s high time to bring both together. This is what I shall do in this paper. However, the result of defining Lehrer’s primitive notions in terms of ranking theory will be disappointing: justified acceptance will, depending on the interpretation, either have an unintelligible structure or reduce to mere acceptance, and in the latter (...) interpretation knowledge will reduce to true belief. Of course, this result will require a discussion of who should be disappointed. So, the plan of the paper is simple: In section 1 I shall briefly state what is required for underpinning Lehrer’s account and why most of the familiar theories fail to do so. In section 2 I shall briefly motivate and introduce ranking theory. Basing Lehrer’s account on it will be entirely straightforward. Section 3 proves the above-mentioned results. Section 4, finally, discusses the possible conclusions. (shrink)

The Riemann–Roch theorem for algebraic curves is derived from a theorem for Girard quantales. Serre duality is shown to be a quantalic phenomenon. An example provides a Girard quantale satisfying the Riemann–Roch theorem, where the associated curve is non-connected and irreducible.

Die Wissensvermittlung in Gesundheitsethik ermöglicht es Auszubildenden der Pflege, sich in ihrer zukünftigen Tätigkeit bei Entscheidungsprozessen des Behandlungsteams hinsichtlich pflegeethischer Fragestellungen einzubringen. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde anhand der vorliegenden Studie die Entwicklung moralischer Positionen sowie pflegeethischer Kenntnisse von Pflegeauszubildenden sichtbar gemacht. An zwei Krankenpflegeschulen (Berlin und Fürth) wurden im Rahmen einer Panelstudie von August 2010 bis März 2011 Daten einer ersten Querschnittserhebung von Auszubildenden in der Pflege erhoben. Für die Studie wurde ein strukturierter Fragebogen verwendet. Die Studienteilnahme erfolgte freiwillig. Alle (...) Auszubildenden hatten vor der Befragung in unterschiedlichem Umfang Unterricht in Gesundheitsethik erhalten. An beiden Standorten zeigten die Teilnehmenden einen Zuwachs an pflegeethischen Kenntnissen. Auszubildende, die bislang keine praktische Erfahrung mit Sterbehilfe gemacht hatten, zeigten Schwierigkeiten in der theoretischen Handhabung dieser Maßnahmen. Für alle Auszubildenden zeigte sich ein allgemeiner Trend zu einer Befürwortung des partizipativen Interaktionsmodells und damit zu einer Förderung der Patientenselbstbestimmung. Zugleich schätzten die Studienteilnehmenden die Fähigkeiten von Patienten, medizinisch richtige Therapieentscheidungen zu treffen, als gering ein. Die Ausbildung in Gesundheitsethik besitzt ein großes Potential, Kenntnisse zu vermitteln und dadurch die ethische Kompetenzentwicklung zu befördern. Unsere Ergebnisse werfen die Frage auf, inwieweit es einer Integration praktischer Erfahrungen mit Fragestellungen der Gesundheitsethik bedarf, um eine praxisrelevante und wissenschaftlich fundierte Wissensvermittlung zu gewährleisten. (shrink)