Introduction

Author(s):  
A.C.C. Coolen ◽  
A. Annibale ◽  
E.S. Roberts

This introductory chapter sets the scene for the material which follows by briefly introducing the study of networks and describing their wide scope of application. It discusses the role of well-specified random graphs in setting network science onto a firm scientific footing, emphasizing the importance of well-defined null models. Non-trivial aspects of graph generation are introduced. An important distinction is made between approaches that begin with a desired probability distribution on the final graph ensembles and approaches where the graph generation process is the main object of interest and the challenge is to analyze the expected topological properties of the generated networks. At the core of the graph generation process is the need to establish a mathematical connection between the stochastic graph generation process and the stationary probability distribution to which these processes evolve.

Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of liberalism, which is best understood as an expansive, philosophical notion. Liberalism is a collection of political, social, and economic doctrines and institutions that encompasses classical liberalism, left liberalism, liberal market socialism, and certain central values. This chapter then introduces subsequent chapters, which are divided into three parts. Part I, “Liberalism, Libertarianism, and Economic Justice,” clarifies the distinction between classical liberalism and the high liberal tradition and their relation to capitalism, and then argues that libertarianism is not a liberal view. Part II, “Distributive Justice and the Difference Principle,” analyzes and applies John Rawls’s principles of justice to economic systems and private law. Part III, “Liberal Institutions and Distributive Justice,” focuses on the crucial role of liberal institutions and procedures in determinations of distributive justice and addresses why the first principles of a moral conception of justice should presuppose general facts in their justification.


Author(s):  
Violeta Moreno-Lax

This chapter identifies the content and scope of application of the EU prohibition of refoulement. Following the ‘cumulative standards’ approach, the analysis incorporates developments in international human rights law (IHRL) and international refugee law (IRL). Taking account of the prominent role of the ECHR and the Refugee Convention (CSR51) as sources of Article 19 CFR, these are the two main instruments taken in consideration. The scope of application of Articles 33 CSR51 and 3 ECHR will be identified in turns. Autonomous requirements of EU law will be determined by reference to the asylum acquis as interpreted by the CJEU. The main focus will be on the establishment of the territorial reach of EU non-refoulement. The idea that it may be territorially confined will be rejected. Drawing on the ‘Fransson paradigm’, a ‘functional’ understanding of the ‘implementation of EU law’ standard under Article 51 CFR will be put forward, as the decisive factor to determine applicability of Charter provisions. The implications of non-refoulement for the different measures of extraterritorial control considered in Part I will be delineated at the end.


Author(s):  
Chris Lorenz

This introductory chapter assesses the role of theory in history and traces the developments in the discipline of history. Theoretical reflection about the ‘true nature’ of history fulfils three interrelated practical functions. First, theory legitimizes a specific historical practice—a specific way of ‘doing history’—as the best one from an epistemological and a methodological point of view. Second, theory sketches a specific programme of doing history. Third, theoretical reflections demarcate a specific way of ‘doing history’ from other ways of ‘doing history’, which are excluded or degraded. The chapter then considers three phases of theoretical changes from analytical to narrative philosophy of history, and then on to ‘history from below’ and the ‘presence’ of history, ultimately leading to the current return of fundamental ontological and normative questions concerning the status of history and history-writing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuya Nagano ◽  
Masahiro Katsurada ◽  
Ryota Dokuni ◽  
Daisuke Hazama ◽  
Tatsunori Kiriu ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are circulating vesicles secreted by various cell types. EVs are classified into three groups according to size, structural components, and generation process of vesicles: exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies. Recently, EVs have been considered to be crucial for cell-to-cell communications and homeostasis because they contain intracellular proteins and nucleic acids. Epithelial cells from mice suffering from bronchial asthma (BA) secrete more EVs and suppress inflammation-induced EV production. Moreover, microarray analyses of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid have revealed that several microRNAs are useful novel biomarkers of BA. Mesenchymal stromal cell-derived EVs are possible candidates of novel BA therapy. In this review, we highlight the biologic roles of EVs in BA and review novel EV-targeted therapy to help understanding by clinicians and biologists.


Author(s):  
Helen M. Gunter ◽  
Michael W. Apple ◽  
David Hall

This book reports on primary research into the role and influence of corporate elites in regard to the reform of public education. This introductory chapter outlines this purpose, with a focus on corporatised governance. We outline the trends in reform, and the role of elites and corporate elites in particular, and we then provide an over view of the book and the main contributions of the reported research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Leila Ghashghaei ◽  
Ali Ravanan

Legal implications in various fields of e-commerce transactions are described by means of e-commerce from one of the parties and through the transaction implemented by Internet. Online contracts are a manifestation of true innovation in the field of traditional legal agreements. The main issue of concern is the lack of tools has traditionally been used to express the will of the contract.The lack of legal grounds to use in e-commerce, such as: Expert of judges, the admissibility of electronic documents, electronic signatures, the principle of good faith, law of consumer protection, commercial and competition law and how to compensate both material and spiritual is the most important challenge of the country's legislative system. The most important distinction between the Iranian and French law is on the implementation of its damage compensation that in French law is detailed discussions covering the damages due to breach of contract litigation is not compensable.But the other hand, moral damages, such as mental anxiety, loss of credibility and like that is compensable, while this is not done in Iran. Experience of law between Iran and France showed a weak pattern in consumer protection in e-commerce contracts. In this cross-sectional study to evaluate the role of trade in remote transactions and its effect on Iran and France in damage compensation from the legal perspective.


Author(s):  
T.V. Paul

This introductory chapter offers an overview of the core themes addressed in The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations. It begins with a discussion of the neglect of peaceful change and the overemphasis on war as the source of change in the discipline of international relations. Definitions of peaceful change in their different dimensions, in particular the maximalist and minimalist varieties, are offered. Systemic, regional, and domestic level changes are explored. This is followed by a discussion of the study and understanding of peaceful change during the interwar, Cold War, and post–Cold War eras. The chapter offers a brief summary of different theoretical perspectives in IR—realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical as well as eclectic approaches—and how they explore peaceful change, its key mechanisms, and its feasibility. The chapter considers the role of great powers and key regional states as agents of change. The economic, social, ideational, ecological, and technological sources of change are also briefly discussed.


Author(s):  
Ann Taves

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book analyzes the role of revelatory claims in three groups that emerged in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Mormonism, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the network of students associated with A Course in Miracles. These three case studies are not only richly documented but also present intriguing comparative possibilities. Each had a key figure whose unusual experiences and/or abilities led to the emergence of a new spiritual path and to the production of scripture-like texts that were not attributed directly to them. However, the three groups do not make the same claims for their scripture-like texts, and their respective collaborations generated very different social formations.


Author(s):  
David A. Baldwin

This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the importance of the concept of power in political science. It then sets out the book's three main purposes. The first is to clarify and explicate Robert Dahl's concept of power. This is the concept of power most familiar to political scientists, the one most criticized. The second purpose is to examine twelve controversial issues in power analysis. The third is to describe and analyze the role of the concept of power in the international relations literature with particular reference to the three principal approaches—realism, neoliberalism, and constructivism. It is argued that a Dahlian perspective is potentially relevant to each of these theoretical approaches.


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