Review Essay: The Many Faces of Harrison C. White: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Theory

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-114
Author(s):  
Malcolm Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Many

scholarly journals Using chemical biology to assess and modulate mitochondria: progress and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 20160151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Logan ◽  
Michael P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Function ◽  
Chemical Biology ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
The Many ◽  
Opening Up

Our understanding of the role of mitochondria in biomedical sciences has expanded considerably over the past decade. In addition to their well-known metabolic roles, mitochondrial are also central to signalling for various processes through the generation of signals such as ROS and metabolites that affect cellular homeostasis, as well as other processes such as cell death and inflammation. Thus, mitochondrial function and dysfunction are central to the health and fate of the cell. Consequently, there is considerable interest in better understanding and assessing the many roles of mitochondria. Furthermore, there is also a growing realization that mitochondrial are a promising drug target in a wide range of pathologies. The application of interdisciplinary approaches at the interface between chemistry and biology are opening up new opportunities to understand mitochondrial function and in assessing the role of the organelle in biology. This work and the experience thus gained are leading to the development of new classes of therapies. Here, we overview the progress that has been made to date on exploring the chemical biology of the organelle and then focus on future challenges and opportunities that face this rapidly developing field.

Bloch, Ernst Simon (1885–1977)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Geoghegan
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Open System ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
New Material ◽  
Closed Systems ◽  
The Many ◽  
Fundamental Categories ◽  
Western Marxism ◽  
The Universe

Bloch was one of the most innovative Marxist philosophers of the twentieth century. His metaphysical and ontological concerns, combined with a self-conscious utopianism, distanced him from much mainstream Marxist thought. He was sympathetic to the classical philosophical search for fundamental categories, but distinguished earlier static, fixed and closed systems from his own open system, in which he characterized the universe as a changing and unfinished process. Furthermore, his distinctive materialism entailed the rejection of a radical separation of the human and the natural, unlike much twentieth-century Western Marxism. His validation of utopianism was grounded in a distinctive epistemology centred on the processes whereby ‘new’ material emerges in consciousness. The resulting social theory was sensitive to the many and varied ways in which the utopian impulse emerges, as, for example, in its analysis of the utopian dimension in religion.

Varieties in Comparative Capitalisms Research: A Critical Juncture

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Daniel Šitera
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
Prior Review ◽  
Comparative Capitalisms ◽  
Initial Survey ◽  
The Many

This article addresses Richard Westra, Ian Bruff and Matthias Ebenau's responses to my prior review essay on their edited volumes. In my initial survey, I concluded that both volumes reinvigorate the radical potential of contemporary Comparative Capitalisms (CC) literatures, but warned against the tendency in critical research to trace capitalism solely at its worst. I posited that this pessimism undermines the volumes’ pedagogical potential and threatens to bring us to intellectual cul-de-sacs. The authors respond in different ways to this critical engagement: Westra provides a guideline to trace such an intellectual pessimism in the (neo-)Marxist political economy and points to the so-called ‘Uno approach’ as an alternative direction that opens our intellectual horizons to social change in (post-)capitalism. In contrast, Bruff and Ebenau regard my review as less monochromatic than other discussions of their research project but nevertheless assertively retort to my critique. This reply seeks to engage the aforementioned scholars in a discussion, while reconsidering the alleged pessimism of critical CC research as informed optimism. Such informed optimism must be found in a critical research that (i) is based on a deeper reflexive theoretical discussion rather than a one-sided deconstruction of mainstream scholarship; and (ii) derives from a holistic approach broadened by a human-centred perspective, which also exposes us to actually existing alternatives within as well as to (post-)capitalism. Given that such approaches are currently only implicit, the many ongoing crises of contemporary capitalism represent a critical juncture not only for mainstream, but also for critical CC research.

Canadian ports-external challenges and reform

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 818-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C Ircha ◽  
Jeff Wood
Keyword(s):  
Transportation Network ◽  
Marine Policy ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Surface Mode ◽  
Transportation Industry ◽  
Border Trade ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
International Trading ◽  
The Many ◽  
Tariff Reductions

The federal ports system in Canada faces considerable challenges and opportunities from the rapidly changing international trading environment in which they operate. Global trade has grown as a result of tariff reductions and removal of non-tariff barriers emanating from successive rounds of GATT trade discussions. Ports in Canada and the U.S. have been pressured to improve productivity to handle increasing amounts of cargo in a timely manner. Trans-border trade continues to grow due to the FTA and subsequent NAFTA. However, most continental trade is transported by surface mode to the detriment of ports and the coastal trade in both countries. Improvements to transport technology and economic deregulation challenge ports due to the growth of an integrated intermodal system serving a continental transportation network. Such integrated intermodalism enables the diversion of containerized cargo through load-centre ports in both countries. The many challenges facing Canadian ports are partly driving the current port reform process. Steps have been taken over the past several years to involve the Canadian transportation industry in the development of a national marine policy. The Canada Marine Act, which recently was given royal assent, shifts major commercial ports towards a more businesslike setting. However, this may not be enough, as ports need to be freed from the strictures of the federal government to operate independently in a continental competitive transportation environment.Key words: ports, international trade, shipping, technology, deregulation, reform.

The gut microbiota of wild rodents: Challenges and opportunities

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Viney
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Wild Rodents ◽  
Major Study ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Many

The gut microbiota can have important, wide-ranging effects on its host. To date, laboratory animals, particularly mice, have been the major study system for microbiota research. It is now becoming increasingly clear that laboratory animals often poorly model aspects of the biology of wild animals, and this concern extends to the study of the gut microbiota. Here, the relatively few studies of the microbiota of wild rodents are reviewed, including a critical assessment of how the gut microbiota differs between laboratory and wild rodents. Finally, the many potential advantages and opportunities of wild-animal systems for research into the gut microbiota are considered.

scholarly journals Communicating actionable nutrition messages: challenges and opportunities

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne P. Goldberg ◽  
Sarah A. Sliwa
Keyword(s):  
Media Literacy ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Environmental Interventions ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Nutrition Messages ◽  
The Many ◽  
Many Sources

As long as health communications have existed in the USA, Americans have faced the task of sorting the agenda of the source from the advice it provides. That task has become more complicated as advances in the science of nutrition and the technology used to present it have heightened the complexity of nutrition communications. Getting consumers to adopt a healthier diet has been a protracted undertaking with limited successes along the way. The obesity epidemic has added urgency to this discourse: not only do we need to eat better, but most of us also need to eat less. This paper reviews the dynamics that have made the communication of accurate and actionable health behaviour information an ongoing challenge, and outlines strategies for moving ahead. It considers the interplay of four sets of factors: the evolutionary nature of the science on which recommendations are based; the many sources of communication about that science; the agendas or motivations of each source; and finally the multifaceted nature of consumers, the recipients of these communications. Communication alone has not been, and will not be, sufficient for consumers to adopt the behavioural changes endorsed by experts. Broad environmental interventions coupled with individual skills development will need to be part of the process. Ultimately, it is the consumer who decides what is for dinner. Media literacy will play a critical role in building consumer efficacy in sorting fact from fiction in order to select food for a healthful diet.

Building Better Comparative Social Theory through Alternative Conceptions of Rationality: A Review Essay

1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Lockhart ◽  
Richard M. Coughlin ◽  
Amitai Etzioni ◽  
Michael Thompson ◽  
Richard Ellis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Alternative Conceptions

scholarly journals Towards Addressing the Opportunities and Challenges of Web 2.0 for Health and Informatics

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 44-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cabrer ◽  
M. Hansen ◽  
C. Paton ◽  
P. L. Elkin ◽  
W. S. Erdley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Medical Informatics ◽  
International Medical ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Health 2.0 ◽  
Health Domain ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Many ◽  
New Applications

Summary ObjectiveTo provide an overview of Web 2.0 and Health 2.0, and so facilitate a widespread discussion of the nature of these concepts and their possible application within the health domain, and implications for health and biomedical informatics and for IMIA. MethodsIMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association, has established a Web 2.0 Exploratory Taskforce to bring together interested individuals from within and outside IMIA to explore the nature and potential of Web 2.0 applications. The Taskforce aims to develop background materials and sample uses of Web 2.0 applications, so as to propose specific lines of action for the IMIA Board and General Assembly. This paper provides a brief overview of Web 2.0 and related concepts, and examples of general and health-specific Web 2.0 applications. Some examples of the issues, challenges and opportunities are introduced, to set the scene for a wider dialogue on if, how, and how best, IMIA, and the wider health and informatics communities, should use these new applications and approaches. Results and conclusionsThis brief paper provides an introduction to, and overview of, the many issues involved in considering the application of Web 2.0 to health and informatics. All interested individuals and organisations are invited to use this as a starting point for engaging in wider discussion and contributing to the Taskforce and to IMIA’s future.

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