The psychological effects of aesthetic education have often been discussed, and major studies such as Michael Parsons’s inquiry into art understanding show that the development of understanding works of visual art is influenced by education.1 His findings show that the way people talk about art can be structured in five stages of development according to the model of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. He believes that the understanding of art, just like general cognition, is based on mental maturation but (...) that some kind of education is necessary to acquire the different skills of the understanding of art at each stage of development. Parsons’s study does not include educational strategies, but his .. (shrink)

Listening to the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D-major by Brahms takes twenty-two minutes. It varies a few minutes depending of the soloist and conductor, but the duration is fairly constant. Reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy takes many hours. The duration varies a lot depending on the reader's pace, but reading literature, just as listening to music, takes a considerable amount of time. Looking at a work of visual art, on the other hand, typically takes less than a (...) minute. This may be an exaggeration, but museum studies show that visitors to an art museum usually spend only a few moments in front of the individual work of art. Jeffrey K. Smith and Lisa F. Smith found that visitors to the Metropolitan... (shrink)

Bacteria have evolved advanced strategies for surviving during nutritional stress, including expression of specialized enzyme systems that allow them to grow on unusual nutrient sources. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is limiting in most ecosystems, hence organisms have developed a sophisticated, enzymatic machinery known as carbon‐phosphorus (C‐P) lyase, allowing them to extract phosphate from a wide range of phosphonate compounds. These are characterized by a stable covalent bond between carbon and phosphorus making them very hard to break down. Despite the challenges involved (...) in both synthesizing and catabolizing phosphonates, they are widespread in nature. The enzymes required for the bacterial C‐P lyase pathway have been identified and for the most part structurally characterized. Nevertheless, the mechanistic principles governing breakdown of phosphonate compounds remain enigmatic. In this review, an overview of the C‐P lyase pathway is provided and structural aspects of the involved enzyme complexes are discussed with a special emphasis on the role of ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) proteins. (shrink)

Bacteria have evolved advanced strategies for surviving during nutritional stress, including expression of specialized enzyme systems that allow them to grow on unusual nutrient sources. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is limiting in most ecosystems, hence organisms have developed a sophisticated, enzymatic machinery known as carbon‐phosphorus (C‐P) lyase, allowing them to extract phosphate from a wide range of phosphonate compounds. These are characterized by a stable covalent bond between carbon and phosphorus making them very hard to break down. Despite the challenges involved (...) in both synthesizing and catabolizing phosphonates, they are widespread in nature. The enzymes required for the bacterial C‐P lyase pathway have been identified and for the most part structurally characterized. Nevertheless, the mechanistic principles governing breakdown of phosphonate compounds remain enigmatic. In this review, an overview of the C‐P lyase pathway is provided and structural aspects of the involved enzyme complexes are discussed with a special emphasis on the role of ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) proteins. (shrink)

Despite their seemingly endless diversity, proteins adopt a limited number of structural forms. It has been estimated that 80% of proteins will be found to adopt one of only about 400 folds, most of which are already known. These folds are largely formed by a limited ‘vocabulary’ of recurring supersecondary structure elements, often by repetition of the same element and, increasingly, elements similar in both structure and sequence are discovered. This suggests that modern proteins evolved by fusion and recombination from (...) a more ancient peptide world and that many of the core folds observed today may contain homologous building blocks. The peptides forming these building blocks would not in themselves have had the ability to fold, but would have emerged as cofactors supporting RNA‐based replication and catalysis (the ‘RNA world’). Their association into larger structures and eventual fusion into polypeptide chains would have allowed them to become independent of their RNA scaffold, leading to the evolution of a novel type of macromolecule: the folded protein. BioEssays 25:837–846, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

La philosophie du droit a pour fonction d’assister la réflexion sur le monde du juridique, sur « le droit qui se fait », sur la doctrine juridique et notre façon de l’écrire, et sur l’appréciation (ou l’indifférence, l’hostilité, etc.) qu’un individu distancié peut éprouver à l’égard du droit et des juristes. Elle assiste et elle participe en examinant notre façon d’opérationnaliser les sources du droit, de forger des arguments pouvant être juridiques, d’évaluer les narrations qui se présentent au droit, d’examiner (...) la pertinence de la doctrine, notre façon de pratiquer le droit et de faire des jugements judiciaires. Elle ne réside de toute évidence pas « en haut » et elle ne « surplombe » pas l’écriture de la doctrine. Elle ne se glorifie pas en distribuant (en toute incompétence) l’étiquette de « scientificité » au bon candidat, que celui-ci soit auteur d’un article, d’un livre ou d’une théorie. Admettons plutôt lucidement que la philosophie du droit ne donne pas de certificat de « scientificité » et que toute revendication en ce « sens » n’a pas de « sens ». (shrink)

Bjarne Melkevik, docteur s droit de Paris II, est professeur titulaire la Facult de droit de l'Universit Laval (Qubec) et professeur associ au Dpartement de droit et Justice, Universit Laurentienne (Ontario).

Although Denmark managed to stay neutral throughout World War I, it nevertheless generated a heated debate in the country; most people took a clear stand for one side or the other. After the traumatic Danish defeat in the 1864 war with Prussia and Austria, Germany was regarded as the arch enemy and not unexpectedly mostDanes sided against the Central Powers in the public debate. This was not least the case amongst the national-conservative politicians, intellectuals and artists. They form the focus (...) of my article, and the questions I address are: how did the national-conservatives experience the mental watershed of the war? Was it as a blessing or a curse? (shrink)

How does man find himself in a society that cannot offer clear answers to the fundamental question: What is the meaning of existence? This introduction to Søren Kierkegaard's psychological thinking may provide part of the answer. For those interested in psychology and philosophy and anyone else interested in existential dilemmas.

RÉSUMÉ Dans ce texte, l'auteur analyse et réfléchit sur la critique posée par le philosophe allemand Jürgen Habermas à l'encontre du libéralisme politique de son homologue américain John Rawls. Insistant sur quelques thèmes clés, l'auteur se penche, dans un premier temps, sur la critique formulée à l'encontre du modèle d'autonomie politique et individuelle développé par Rawls. Dans un deuxième temps, il examine la position habermasienne à l'égard du discours deformation des normes élaboré par Rawls. Cette étude fait ressortir certaines lacunes (...) de la théorie rawlsienne au regard du monde contemporain et propose une approche alternative tenant davantage compte de Vintersubjectivité et de la démocratie. ABSTRACT In this text, the author analyses and considers the critic of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas over the political liberalism of his american homologue John Rawls. The author first looks at the critics formulated against Rawls's model of political and individual autonomy. The author then proceeds to examine Habermas's position regarding Rawls's discourse on norm formation. This study shows certain lacunas in Rawls's theory in regard of today's society and proposes an alternative approach which would take into account democracy and inter subjectivity. (shrink)

L'espace public est aujourd'hui devenu le lieu même du droit !

In this text, the author analyses and considers the critic of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas over the political liberalism of his american homologue John Rawls. The author first looks at the critics formulated against Rawls's model of political and individual autonomy. The author then proceeds to examine Habermas's position regarding Rawls's discourse on norm formation. This study shows certain lacunas in Rawls's theory in regard of today's society and proposes an alternative approach which would take into account democracy and inter (...) subjectivity. (shrink)

Das Numismatische Museum Athen besitzt mit über 2000 Exemplaren eine der wichtigsten Sammlungen byzantinischer Siegel. Die hier zu besprechende Arbeit, die auf Anregung von Werner Seibt entstanden ist, bietet eine Neuedition der byzantinischen Bleisiegel mit Familiennamen aus den Beständen des Athener Museums, die in der Διεθνης Έϕημεϱις της Νομισματιϰης Άϱχαιολογίας (Journal international d'archéologie numismatique) in den Jahren 1902 bis 1907 erstmals von K. Konstantopulos publiziert wurden. Der Katalog von Konstantopulos, der alle bis 1905 in das Numismatische Museum Athen aufgenommenen byzantinischen (...) Bleisiegel umfaßt, wurde 1917 als selbständige Publikation nachgedruckt. Nicht berücksichtigt werden vom Autor dagegen etwa die Siegel aus der Sammlung A. Stamules, die dieser im Jahre 1924 dem Museum schenkte und die 1930 ebenfalls von Konstantopulos publiziert wurden, sowie weitere Siegel aus den Athener Beständen, wenngleich der Titel des Buches erwarten läßt, daß sämliche byzantinischen Bleisiegel mit Familiennamen aus der Sammlung des Numismatischen Museums Athen erfaßt sind. (shrink)

Mit dem hier zu besprechenden Werk legt der Verf. ein umfassendes Corpus der ihm bekannt gewordenen byzantinischen Bleisiegel aus Zypern vor. “Seals from Cyprus” bedeutet dabei sowohl Siegel, die aus Zypern stammen bzw. deren Inhaber auf Zypern ansässig waren, sowie Siegel, die an Dokumente angehängt waren, die aus anderen Reichsteilen nach Zypern geschickt wurden, und die man auf Zypern gefunden hat. Es versteht sich von selbst, daß das Corpus keineswegs als abgeschlossen gelten kann. Es umfaßt ca. 1250 Siegel. Weitere Siegel, (...) die dem Verf. nach Fertigstellung des Manuskripts bekannt geworden sind, werden in den Addenda publiziert. Für die Zukunft ist mit neuen Siegelfunden zu rechnen. (shrink)

For several years now, sigillography as an independent subarea in the field of Byzantine studies has received increasing attention from both Byzantine studies and related disciplines, as it is the only area still able to provide academia with large amounts of material not previously analysed. The articles of Studies in Byzantine Sigillography deal with all aspects of Byzantine sigillography: presentation of new finds, discussion of new methods, questions of the political and ecclesiastical administration of Byzantium, prosopography, historical geography, and art-historical (...) and iconographical problems. (shrink)

Quels sont les horizons de la philosophie du Droit? Quelle place occupe-t-elle dans notre modernité juridique? Quels sont ses enjeux? L'euthanasie, les droits des minorités et l'écologie sont des thèmes qui s'inscrivent naturellement dans le contexte contemporain de la philosophie du droit. Les essais présentés dans cet ouvrage expliquent les enjeux des domaines de réflexion qui divisent notre modernité juridique et nous révèlent comment le droit contemporain se construit à partir de présupposés théoriques. Par une réflexion qui invite au dialogue (...) et à la production d'arguments réfléchis, l'auteur cherche à démontrer que la philosophie du droit peut combler certaines lacunes du positivisme juridique qui marque notre modernité. (shrink)

In this text, the author analyses and considers the critic of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas over the political liberalism of his american homologue John Rawls. The author first looks at the critics formulated against Rawls's model of political and individual autonomy. The author then proceeds to examine Habermas's position regarding Rawls's discourse on norm formation. This study shows certain lacunas in Rawls's theory in regard of today's society and proposes an alternative approach which would take into account democracy and inter (...) subjectivity. (shrink)

logique. Dans la société moderne et pluraliste, l'identité des sujets est en fait une combinaison de ces identités. Ainsi, la pluralité n'est pas extérieure ...