© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved.Cell walls of grasses, including cereal crops and biofuel grasses, comprise the majority of plant biomass and intimately influence plant growth, development and physiology. However, the functions of many cell wall synthesis genes, and the relationships among and the functions of cell wall components remain obscure. To better understand the patterns of cell wall accumulation and identify genes that act in grass (...) cell wall biosynthesis, we characterized 30 samples from aerial organs of rice at 10 developmental time points, 3-100 d post-germination. Within these samples, we measured 15 cell wall chemical components, enzymatic digestibility and 18 cell wall polysaccharide epitopes/ligands. We also used quantitative reverse transcription-PCR to measure expression of 50 glycosyltransferases, 15 acyltransferases and eight phenylpropanoid genes, many of which had previously been identified as being highly expressed in rice. Most cell wall components vary significantly during development, and correlations among them support current understanding of cell walls. We identified 92 significant correlations between cell wall components and gene expression and establish nine strong hypotheses for genes that synthesize xylans, mixed linkage glucan and pectin components. This work provides an extensive analysis of cell wall composition throughout rice development, identifies genes likely to synthesize grass cell walls, and provides a framework for development of genetically improved grasses for use in lignocellulosic biofuel production and agriculture. (shrink)

Membership in voluntary organizations is associated with individual and social benefits. Due to the negative consequences of the global pandemic on older people, and the governmental challenges posed by population aging, voluntary membership is of great importance to society. To effectively promote volunteering among older people, it is necessary to understand the determinants of voluntary membership. This study analyses the influence of individual values—secular/traditional and survival/self-expression–on voluntary membership among European adults. Specifically, it examines which values orient two age groups, as (...) well as men and women toward a certain type of association. The sample of 31,985 comprises 60% of adults aged 50–64 and 40% aged 65–79; of which 56% are women and 44% men. The empirical estimation considers different levels of data aggregation: individual, national and welfare system, therefore multilevel analysis is used as an analytical strategy. Individual-level variables from the Integrated Values Survey and national-level variables from the World Bank and Eurostat are used. The results indicate that traditional and self-expression values promote membership in voluntary organizations in general more than secular and survival values. However, there are differences according to the type of organization. Furthermore, values are found to moderate the effect of age and gender on voluntary membership. (shrink)

La gamificación o ludificación, entendida como la aplicación de la filosofía del juego en contextos no lúdicos, está experimentando en los últimos años un desarrollo espectacular en áreas de diversa naturaleza. Si bien está más que comúnmente aceptado que las funciones principales de los museos consisten en preservar y dar a conocer sus colecciones, resulta fundamental que logren conectar de manera satisfactoria con los usuarios empleando para ello medios y estrategias innovadoras y accesibles. En las siguientes páginas ponemos de manifiesto (...) cómo la gamificación no es sino un recurso idóneo para motivar, fidelizar e influir en el comportamiento de los usuarios. (shrink)

En primer lugar, el presente artículo analiza la potencialidad que tienen las prácticas artísticas y manifestaciones culturales desarrolladas en zonas periféricas, urbano-marginales de la ciudad de Guayaquil como un mecanismo de integración y cohesión social para prevenir la violencia. Para ello, metodológicamente se propone un abordaje cualitativo de experiencias desarrolladas en este campo por instituciones de cooperación al desarrollo, que trabajan en articulación con la Universidad de las Artes. Se parte entonces de la recopilación de evidencia documentada de ejecución de (...) proyectos, entrevistas y textos académicos, para luego desarrollar un análisis e interpretación de los procesos y resultados alcanzados en esas intervenciones realizadas principalmente en sectores como Isla Trinitaria y barrios del Noroeste de Guayaquil, sitios de alta conflictividad e inseguridad. En segundo lugar, se lleva a cabo un estudio analítico sobre algunos pensadores que tratan el tema de la violencia y de la paz. Estos estudios pueden iluminar y ofrecer herramientas teóricas para la resolución de conflictos. No todo está perdido y sin esperanza, es posible (re) construir y recuperar la armonía perdida. (shrink)

Descrizione degli obbiettivi, le tecniche ed i primi risultati di una ricerca attualmente in corso all’Università del Paese Basco per applicare il metodo degli invarianti numerici delle classi di equivalenza -già applicato (si veda “Il programma Ars Judicandi”) sul piano di una legislazione nazionale- alla costruzione di un modello matematico per automatizzare le operazioni di analisi logica parallela, confronto e decisione su diverse legislazioni nazionaIi, simultaneamente iscritte nel quadro di una “rete deontica internazionale” che descrive per ciascuna di esse i (...) rapporti validi fra le condizioni, i casi e le soluzioni giuridiche. Il modelle comprende: a) la traduzione in un Iinguaggio aritmetico di base esadecimale delle componenti, le operazioni e le relazioni di una base multinazionale di dati legislativi; b) la formulazione, sotto forma di algoritmi aritmetici, delle regole di utilizzazione della base di dati per gli obbiettivi, classici ed attuali, di analisi e di decisione deI Diritto Comparato e dell’armonizzazione ed integrazione sopranazionale di legisIazioni diverse. (shrink)

Se establece un diálogo hermenéutico entre las concurrencias y bifurcaciones del idealismo simbólico de Cassirer y el racionalismo alado de Bachelard en tres momentos. Primero, a partir de indicios bio-bibliográficos se construye el contexto de significación vital donde se anclan sus respectivas ideas; segundo, se establecen entre ellos paralelismos fundamentales, y, tercero, se ofrecen ejemplos de la terminología bachelardiana, cercana a la hermenéutica simbólica contemporánea. Con ello se expande la comprensión de los análisis de Cassirer acerca del pensamiento indirecto e (...) interpretativo hacia las relaciones del hombre y la cultura, así como al papel del símbolo en el tránsito de la naturaleza a la cultura. The article establishes a hermeneutical dialogue between the convergences and divergences of Cassirer's symbolic idealism and Bachelard's winged rationalism. First, on the basis of bio-bibliographical evidence, it reconstructs the context of vital signification in which the authors' respective ideas are rooted; secondly, it identifies the fundamental parallelisms between them; and, finally, it provides examples of Bachelardian terminology that resembles that of contemporary symbolic hermeneutics. This results in a broader understanding Cassirer's analyses of indirect and interpretive thought regarding the relations between man and culture, as well as of the role of the symbol in the shift form nature to culture. (shrink)

Se establece un diálogo hermenéutico entre las concurrencias y bifurcaciones del idealismo simbólico de Cassirer y el racionalismo alado de Bachelard en tres mo mentos. Primero, a partir de indicios bio-bibliográficos se construye el contexto de significación vital donde se anclan sus respectivas ideas; segundo, se establecen entre ellos paralelismos fundamentales, y, tercero, se ofrecen ejemplos de la terminología bachelardiana, cercana a la hermenéutica simbólica contemporánea. Con ello se ex pande la comprensión de los análisis de Cassirer acerca del pensamiento (...) indirecto e interpretativo hacia las relaciones del hombre y la cultura, así como al papel del símbolo en el tránsito de la naturaleza a la cultura. (shrink)

In the parts I and II of this paper, the Author shows:1. how Leibniz’s arithmetico-intensional logical calculi of April 1679 can be completed and transformed in an intensional Boolean algebra (U, v, &:, -, e, -e) admitting, on the one hand, two different logical interpretations:li1: as a complete and consistent calculus of terms (properties) and syllogistic;li2: as a deontic first-order calculus and, on the other hand, two different arithmetical interpretations:ai1: as a numerical Boolean algebra (DM, lcm, ged, M/..., 1, M) (...) of all divisors of a natural number M;ai2: as a numerlcal Boolean algebra (BA, lcbc, gcbc, A-..., 0, A) of all binary components of a natural number A.Arithmetical representations of negation of a term x and of combination (intensional conjunction) and alternative (intensional disjunction) of two or more terms are respectively M/x, lcm (lower common multiple) and gcd (greatest common divisor) in the first Boolean algebra (ai1) and A-x, lcbc (lower common binary composite) and gcbc (greatest common binary component) in the second one (ai2).2. that, in this context, each possible world U of 2ⁿ elements (terms, acts) can be defined on the basis on n elements of U choosen as “saturated” (intensionally maximal, but possible) in U or, inversely, on the basis of n elements of U choosen as “primitive” (intensionally minimal, but not-universal) in U. In fact, each possible element of U can be defined now as an alternative of saturated elements of U, now as a combination of primitive (opposite to saturated) elements of U; all combinations of saturated elements of U being equivalent to the impossible element (-e, non-entity, resp. impossible act) of U and an alternatives of elements of U being equivalent to the universal element (e, entity, resp. possible act) of U.In the arithmetical representation of each possible world U, the maximal number M (for ai1) or A (for ai2) represents the impossible (non existent) element of U. Now, each possihle world defined by n saturated (resp. primitive) elements can be automatically enlarged (restricted) by the introduction (suppression) of m new (old) saturated (resp. primitive) elements, producing a new possible world U’ where m impossible elements (centaur, pegasus, syren, unicorn, etc.) of U become possible elements of U’ or inversely.After this first type of arithmetical representation of logical calculi, where the terms are -as in Leibniz’s 1679 calculi- represented by natural numbers and the propositions by equations (for universal resp. prescriptive) or inequations (for particular, resp. permissive), in the part III the Author presents a second type of arithmetical representation where propositions are represented by natural numbers and the valid (classical or deontic) syllogisms by true arithmetical relations between the numbers of premisses and the number of conclusion. Here the entire syllogistic adopts the form of a multiplication table wherea syllogism is valid if and only if the lcm (in ai1 ) or the lcbc (in ai2) of the characterlstic numbers of the premisses is a multiple (in ai1) or a binary composite (in ai2) of the characteristic number of the conclusion. (shrink)

A través de los recursos esenciales de la semantica de los mundos posibles se comparan y relacionan, por un lado, la dimensión científica y filosófica, y por otro, la dimensión tecnica y la utópica, utilizándose para ello las relaciones entre composibilidad (o compatibilidad) y existencia, y entre el mundo actual, en el que opera la técnica, y mundos posibles, hacia los que se proyecta la utopía. En esta tarea resulta de interés prestar atención a la problematica clasica acerca de los (...) poliedros posibles e imposibles, en relación con el problema de la afectación, exclusión o ajuste de los “monstruos” de la lógica o de la razón.Through the essential means of the semantics of possible worlds, some dimensions are compared and related: firstly, the scientific and philosophical dimension, and secondly the technical and utopian dimension. For that purpose the relationship between compossibility (or compatibility) and existence are used as well as that between the real world, in which technique works, and possible worlds, towards utopia is oriented. In this task it is interesting to pay attention to the classic issue of possible and impossible polyhedrons, concerning affectation, exclusion or fitting of “monsters” of logic or of reason. (shrink)

Este trabajo se centra en el análisis de la percepción del alumnado universitario acerca de la utilización de la metodología Flipped Classroom. Se analizarán los resultados obtenidos de una experiencia docente basada en su uso, centrándose entre otros aspectos, en la satisfacción del alumnado, la comprensión de conocimientos y adquisición de competencias, el grado de implicación de profesores/as y alumnos/as, así como las ventajas e inconvenientes percibidos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran, entre otros beneficios, la percepción de una mejora en el (...) proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y un aumento en la calidad de la formación, así como en la satisfacción del alumnado. (shrink)

Nota crítica a propósito de: Castro, R. y Chamorro, E. _ Para una crítica del neoliberalismo: Foucault y el Nacimiento de la biopolítica_. Madrid: Lengua de trapo. González Sánchez, I. _Neoliberalismo y castigo_. Barcelona: Bellaterra. Villacañas, J. L. _Neoliberalismo como teología política: Habermas, Foucault, Laval, Dardot y la historia del capitalismo contemporáneo_. Barcelona: NED ediciones.

En el artículo, se sigue el objetivo de revisar los planteamientos del español radicado en México, Adolfo Sánchez, fallecido en 2011, luego de una destacada actividad investigativa en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Sus reflexiones en torno a la estética de Marx llevaron a Sánchez a plantear asuntos como la praxis de la creación artística, en que el realismo socialista que busca el reflejo del mundo y la ideología en la obra resulta perjudiciales para la tarea estética (...) e, incluso, pueden coartar la libertad del creador. Sánchez se preocupa por incluir en la praxis estética la acción interpretativa del lector en que el placer por una obra nos conecta con la significación de lo humano, raíz del sentido de la belleza. De tal modo, en la expresión estética de una obra, las mediaciones culturales e ideológicas no se dan ausentes, ya que las ideas culturales, políticas o filosóficas dejan huellas en la creación del artista. (shrink)

pt. 1. The form of the state : on beginnings -- pt. 2. Machiavelli's theory of history : modes of encounter between action and time -- pt. 3. The event of the republic : the return to beginnings.

In his 1935 treatise on divine sovereignty, the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber introduced the idea of an 'anarchic soul of theocracy.' A decade before, the German jurist Carl Schmitt had coined the term 'political theology' in order to designate the Christian theological foundations of modern sovereignty and legal order. In a specular and opposite gesture, Buber argued that the covenant at Sinai established YHWH as the King of the Israelites and simultaneously promulgated the principle that no human being could become (...) sovereign over this people. In so doing, Buber offered an interpretation of Jewish theocracy that is both republican and anarchic. Republican because, by pivoting on the idea that democracy is a function of a people's fidelity to a prophetic higher law, theocracy displaces the central role of the human sovereign. Anarchic because this divine law is saturated with the messianic aim to put an end to relations of domination between peoples. In this book I show that this republican and anarchic articulation of the discourse of political theology characterises the development of Jewish political theology in the 20th century from Hermann Cohen to Hannah Arendt. (shrink)

Machiavelli's influence on modern politics and the importance of his thought for the development of modern political ideas has long been universally acknowledged. The Prince has become a key text in Philosophy and Political Theory, one that is widely read and studied. Machiavelli's most important work is a hugely exciting, yet challenging, piece of philosophical writing. In Machiavelli's 'The Prince': A Reader's Guide, Miguel Vatter offers a clear and thorough account of this key philosophical work. Setting Machiavelli's text in (...) its historical and philosophical context, the book offers a detailed review of the key themes (epistemological, social, ethical and theological-political) and a lucid commentary that will enable readers to rapidly navigate the text. Geared towards the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of the text as a whole, the guide explores the complex and important ideas inherent in the text and provides a cogent survey of the reception and influence of Machiavelli's work. This is the ideal companion to study this most influential of texts. (shrink)

The multi-volume Political Philosophy is an ambitious attempt by Luc Ferry to re-establish the possibility of a normative theory of politics after the demise of the metaphysical politics associated with the various grand narratives of modernity. Polemically oriented against the “anti-humanism” of post-modernity, Ferry’s political philosophy delineates a new strategy for the Enlightenment project of universal emancipation by developing a “non-metaphysical humanism” that draws heavily on the thought of Kant and Fichte.

Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss are undoubtedly two of the most influential and radical conservative critics of liberalism of our century. Their work takes aim at the heart of liberalism: it questions the consistency of liberalism’s theologico-political ground, namely, the separation of church and state. They take exception to the neutrality of the liberal state with respect to matters of faith on the ground that such neutrality betrays a lack of absolute moral commitments and places liberalism in a chronic crisis (...) of legitimacy. Schmitt advances his critique of liberalism from the standpoint of political theology. This discourse claims that the political state is authoritative in virtue of its capacity to equate the individual decision of whether or not to obey unconditionally a given legal order with the absolute decision between good and evil, to which the individual has access only through religious faith. Whether the standpoint of Strauss’s critique falls within the purview of political theology is one of the questions that will be discussed in this review. More importantly, their respective critiques of liberalism raise the topical question of the nature of the relation between liberalism and politico-religious fundamentalism. (shrink)

Cacciari, academic and mayor of Venice as of 1993, surveys the history of angels in Judaic, Islamic, and Christian traditions; and how Dante, Rilke, Kafka, and other writers have used the metaphor of angels to speak about the phenomenology of language. Translated from the.

Can the history of philosophy transcend the reconstruction of facts and the causal relationships that bind them together? As such, it can also be said to facilitate the analysis of key philosophical problems inherent to the act of communicating the history of philosophy itself. In this article, such a possibility is explored from the vantage point of William Lyons’ short films The Examination (2015) and The Letter (n.d.). These productions re-create certain episodes in the life of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Hannah (...) Arendt with an eye to institutional and moral issues of philosophical significance. (shrink)

This article evaluated the effects of an interpersonal skills program based on artistic expressions to reduce intimate partner violence in college students. The research was of explanatory type, quasi-experimental design and used the Dating Abuse questionnaire (adapted by Osorio, 2014), the Interpersonal Skills questionnaire with reliability of 0.81 having as results in the entry test in terms of violence a mean of 88. 16 and after the program was applied it decreased to 81.2, in interpersonal skills the mean of 46.6 (...) increased to 53.3 with large effect size according to Cohen's d 7.889 CI95% (6.246-9.532), statistically significant differences were found in terms of violence. (shrink)

In Vita della mente e tempo della polis, Simona Forti gives the most convincing account to date of Hannah Arendt's unique path into “post-metaphysical thinking” and shows why it remains one of the most radical “thought-experiments” of this century. Forti's approach to Arendt's thought is centered on the problem of the relation between philosophy and politics, theoria and praxis. Her main thesis is that Arendt identifies the fundamental motivation that is operative in metaphysics as the “occlusion” and “removal” of the (...) originary phenomenon of politics, and thereby also the finitude, multiplicity, and temporality of the “human condition” that is constitutively bound to politics. Forti claims that by the re-memoration of such an “originary” understanding of politics, Arendt is able to deconstruct the tradition of metaphysics in a more radical fashion than Heidegger. Conversely, this “originary” or “authentic” politics, because it stands as the “other” of the whole apparatus of metaphysics, remains immune to a totalizing theorization of its domain, and this in two ways: no “system” of politics is possible, and the role played by theory in political action itself undergoes a thorough revaluation. This theoretical fragility of authentic praxis is precisely what does not permit, at the practical level, its stabilization and foundation. Hence the “tragic” fracture between praxis and theoria, their impossible reconciliation, that in turn becomes the proper matter of “thinking” after metaphysics. A “thinking” which is problematized by Forti through the analysis of the question of judgment in Arendt, whereby a new modality of the “life of the mind” is disclosed, one that lies beyond the very dualism of philosophy and politics. (shrink)

This is an introduction to the Special Issue of Empedocles European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication focused on Latin American studies. The articles collected here were meticulously selected in light of previous discussions and conferences about Latin America that took place over the past year. The contributors transversally analyse several issues in current Latin American studies, particularly those related to philosophy, art, literature and visual studies. They propose alternative readings of Latin America taking into account its singularity and the (...) way in which traditional categories such as representation, power, modernity or gender, among others, are implicitly and explicitly used and criticized. (shrink)

Esta es una introducción al volumen especial de Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication enfocada en estudios latinoamericanos. Los trabajos que a continuación se presentan forman parte de una selección minuciosa llevada a cabo a propósito de varias conversaciones sobre Latinoamérica llevadas a cabo durante el último año. Los artículos en cuestión recorren transversalmente diversas áreas del pensamiento latinoamericano en la actualidad, particularmente las relacionadas con la filosofía, el arte, la literatura y los estudios visuales. Del mismo modo, (...) proponen lecturas alternativas de la realidad latinoamericana atendiendo a su autenticidad, su contexto y a la forma en la cual se interpretan y critican, implícita y explícitamente, categorías tradicionales como representación, poder, modernidad o género entre otras. (shrink)

Miguel de Unamuno was profoundly influenced by Søren Kierkegaard's pseudonymous works at a time when Kierkegaard was virtually unknown in Southern Europe. This book explores the scope and character of that influence, clarifies misconceptions in the relationship between the authors, and offers an original, Kierkegaardian reading of three of Unamuno's best known novels: Niebla, San Manuel Bueno, mártir, and Abel Sánchez.

In this research we analyzed the relationship between threatening economic contexts and trust in authoritarian ideologies and leaders, regardless of the left–right political axis. Based on two theoretical approaches, we argue that this relationship is mediated by dangerous worldview and low perceived sociopolitical control. We conducted two correlational studies with samples of the general population. In Study 1, we found that perceived threat from the economic crisis and low socioeconomic status were correlated with a higher dangerous worldview, which resulted in (...) a more authoritarian ideology and finally in greater trust in an authoritarian political leader. In Study 2, we replicated the findings of Study 1 and demonstrated that low perceived sociopolitical control was associated with higher authoritarianism. Moreover, low perceived sociopolitical control partially mediated the relationship between dangerous worldview and authoritarianism. Overall, our results show that two economically threatening contexts promote authoritarianism and trust in authoritarian leaders through psychological processes. These results are useful to understand and combat the rise of authoritarianism in our societies during financially difficult times such as economic crises. (shrink)

BackgroundMonitoring recovery–stress balance in sport is becoming more relevant to prevent training maladaptation and reach the optimal performance for each athlete. The use of questionnaires that identify the athlete’s recovery–stress state have much acceptance in sports due to reliability and useful, furthermore for its low cost. Identifying possible differences between sport modalities and sex is important to determine specific needs and possible intervention ways to keep a recovery–stress balance. The aim was to analyze the differences in the recovery–stress state and (...) mood states by sex and sport type during the competitive phase in young Mexican athletes. As a secondary objective, the psychometric properties of the Mexican version of the Recovery–Stress Questionnaire for Athletes were analyzed.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried on with 461 athletes, 17.95 years old, from six sports disciplines. The RESTQ-Sport and Profile of Mood States were applied in a single moment. Differences by sex and sports modality were analyzed. RESTQ-Sport’s confirmatory factor analysis was performed after the stress and recovery theoretical structure of two stress and two recovery dimensions, and last, the concurrent validation with the POMS was carried on.ResultsSignificant differences by sex were found in the General Recovery and Sport Stress dimensions of the RESTQ-Sport as well as Vigor factor of the POMS, being higher for men; furthermore, both the Sport Recovery dimension of RESTQ-Sport and Cholera and the Fatigue and Depression factors from POMS also had differences by sport type, showing a less recovery and high stress for individual sport athletes. Goodness-of-fit indexes of the model for the RESTQ-Sport were acceptable. Pearson’s correlation between questionnaires was moderate.ConclusionThe recovery–stress state shows differences in the function of sex and sport modality. More special attention is suggested for women and individual sport athletes. The higher punctuation for men compared with women in sport stress dimension did not negatively affect the recovery–stress balance for male athletes. Finally, the Mexican context adaptation of the RESTQ-Sport provides a psychometric instrument suitable to assess the recovery–stress balance in Mexican athletes. (shrink)

In this work, the evolution of demographic and health patterns in a Basque rural population from Spain is analysed, as they relate to progress in demographic and epidemiological transition. For this purpose, parochial record data on 13,298 births and 9215 deaths, registered during the 19th and 20th centuries (180090) resulting from cardiovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms (post-transition causes). This last point is in contrast with observations from the first four decades of the 20th century, when infectious diseases and respiratory ailments (...) were determining factors in mortality among this population. The data provided by the study of the variation over time in demographic and health patterns indicate that reducing the risk of mortality is one of the most important preconditions for fertility decline. (shrink)

The focus of this work is the analysis of changes in completed family size and possible determinants of that size over time, in an attempt to characterize the evolution of reproductive patterns during the demographic transition. With this purpose in mind, time trends are studied in relation to the mean number of live births per family (as an indirect measure of fertility), using family reconstitution techniques to trace the reproductive history of each married woman. The population surveyed is a Spanish (...) rural community called Lanciego, located at the southern end of the province of Alava (Basque Country). A total of 24,510 parish records of baptisms, marriages and burials made between 1800 and 1969 were examined to obtain the demographic data set. For each reconstituted family, the variables included in the study were the number of live births per family or family size (FAMS), year of marriage (YEAR), age at marriage of both partners (AMAN, AWOM), wife’s age at the end of marriage (WEND), duration of marriage (MARD), age at first maternity (A1CH), length of reproductive span (REPS) and number of children dying before their first anniversary (MINF). Through a principal component analysis, three factors were found that explained more than 75% of the total variance. Association of variables in factors I and III was particularly useful in characterizing the variability of mean family size in pre-transitional, transitional and post-transitional cohorts. During demographic transition, a decreasing trend is observed in the variables FAMS, REPS and MINF, while variables AWOM, AMAN, WEND and A1CH show a tendency to increase over the 20th century. Results obtained by multiple regression analysis confirm that the best predictors of family size (dependent variable) were REPS and MINF, which between them explained over 85% of the total variation in FAMS (R2=0·853). In Lanciego, birth control seems to be present on the evidence of an increase in age at first maternity and a decrease in age at last parturition, indicating that the beginning of the reproductive span is delayed and its end is brought forward. Interaction between family size and infant mortality is discussed in the light of various hypotheses, including replacement of descendants, the so-called biological effect and the theory of r and k selection. (shrink)

For a standard Finsler F on a manifold M, the domain is the whole tangent bundle T M and the fundamental tensor g is positive-definite. However, in many cases, these two conditions hold in a relaxed form only, namely one has either a psuedo-Finsler metric or a conic Finsler metric. Our aim is twofold. First, we want to give an account of quite a few subtleties that appear under such generalizations, say, for conic pseudo-finsler metrics. Second, we aim to provide (...) some criteria that determine when a pseudo-Finsler metric F obtained as a general homogeneous combination of Finsler metrics and one-forms is again a Finsler-metric -- or, more precisely, that the conic domain on which g remains positive-definite. Such a combination generalizes the known -metrics in different directions. Remarkably, classical examples of Finsler metrics are reobtained and extended, with explicit computations of their fundamental tensors. (shrink)

This chapter aims to examine the configuration of the sharing economy in the United Kingdom. The chapter provides an examination of the key opportunities and challenges that this socio-economic model generates in the country. It includes an account of different sharing economy initiatives in the United Kingdom, including crowdfunding projects, tool libraries, timesharing banks, men’s sheds, and shared workspaces, commercial sharing economy services, micro-libraries, community-gardening projects, and paid online peer-to-peer accommodation. Increased consumer choice and economic benefits derived from an extended (...) economy around the sharing economy are identified as key opportunities. Key challenges relate to policymaking and taxation of businesses and participants in the sharing economy, as well as the wider enforcement of health and safety regulations and the impact that the recent pandemic is having on the industry. The chapter also provides an examination of the latest developments and regulations in this area. In addition, the chapter identifies the most pressing issues and possible future directions of research in this context. (shrink)