Bretton Woods and Financial Liberation

The creation of the Bretton Woods system (1945-1971) and the evolution of the financial liberalization that characterized the last quarter of the 20th century and resulted in the contemporary international monetary system remain the most important developments in the international monetary system over the last century. What were the reasons for and structure of the Bretton Woods system, and what was the intellectual reason for the international monetary system moving towards liberalization in the 1970s? A historical review of the evolution of the international monetary system during the 20th century finds that the development and structure of Bretton Woods can be explained by a collapse of the international monetary system in the interwar period (1918-1939) and state-interventionism, while Ronald I. Mckinnon’s work on financial repression and liberalization provided the intellectual support for liberalization, neoliberalism, and financial globalization

Educating for Autonomy: Liberalism and Autonomy in the Capabilities Approach

Martha Nussbaum grounds her version of the capabilities approach in political liberalism. In this paper, we argue that the capabilities approach, insofar as it genuinely values the things that persons can actually do and be, must be grounded in a hybrid account of liberalism: in order to show respect for adults, its justification must be political; in order to show respect for children, however, its implementation must include a commitment to comprehensive autonomy, one that ensures that children develop the skills necessary to make meaningful choices about whether or not to exercise their basic capabilities. Importantly, in order to show respect for parents who do not necessarily recognize autonomy as a value, we argue that the liberal state, via its system of public education, should take on the role of ensuring that all children within the state develop a sufficient degree of autonomy

Expanding the Taxonomy of (Mis-)Recognition in the Economic Sphere

This paper makes a contribution to debates in recognition theory by expanding the taxonomy of (mis-)recognition in the economic sphere. We argue that doing justice to the variety of ways in which recognition is engaged in economic relationships requires: (1) to take into consideration not just the recognition principle of esteem, but also (various aspects of) need and respect; (2) to distinguish a productive from a consumptive dimension with regards to each principle of recognition (need, esteem and respect); (3) and to identify the specific economic relationship at stake (e.g. between consumers and producers, or between employers and employees). In this way, we can account for the diversity of demands for recognition made in the economic sphere, explain what underpins them, and bring structure into these diverse phenomena. What is more, our expanded taxonomy is a useful tool for social pathology theorists. They have to appreciate the full range of variants of misrecognition when diagnosing pathologies of misrecognition in the economic sphere

Mesodermal Progenitor Cells (MPCs) Differentiate into Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) by Activation of Wnt5/Calmodulin Signalling Pathway

Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) remain poorly characterized because of the absence of manifest physical, phenotypic, and functional properties in cultured cell populations. Despite considerable research on MSCs and their clinical application, the biology of these cells is not fully clarified and data on signalling activation during mesenchymal differentiation and proliferation are controversial. The role of Wnt pathways is still debated, partly due to culture heterogeneity and methodological inconsistencies. Recently, we described a new bone marrow cell population isolated from MSC cultures that we named Mesodermal Progenitor Cells (MPCs) for their mesenchymal and endothelial differentiation potential. An optimized culture method allowed the isolation from human adult bone marrow of a highly pure population of MPCs (more than 97%), that showed the distinctive SSEA-4+CD105+CD90(neg) phenotype and not expressing MSCA-1 antigen. Under these selective culture conditions the percentage of MSCs (SSEA-4(neg)CD105+CD90(bright) and MSCA-1+), in the primary cultures, resulted lower than 2%.We demonstrate that MPCs differentiate to MSCs through an SSEA-4+CD105+CD90(bright) early intermediate precursor. Differentiation paralleled the activation of Wnt5/Calmodulin signalling by autocrine/paracrine intense secretion of Wnt5a and Wnt5b (p<0.05 vs uncondictioned media), which was later silenced in late MSCs (SSEA-4(neg)). We found the inhibition of this pathway by calmidazolium chloride specifically blocked mesenchymal induction (ID₅₀ =  0.5 µM, p<0.01), while endothelial differentiation was unaffected.The present study describes two different putative progenitors (early and late MSCs) that, together with already described MPCs, could be co-isolated and expanded in different percentages depending on the culture conditions. These results suggest that some modifications to the widely accepted MSC nomenclature are required

What Justifies Judgments of Inauthenticity?

The notion of authenticity, i.e., being “genuine,” “real,” or “true to oneself,” is sometimes held as critical to a person’s autonomy, so that inauthenticity prevents the person from making autonomous decisions or leading an autonomous life. It has been pointed out that authenticity is difficult to observe in others. Therefore, judgments of inauthenticity have been found inadequate to underpin paternalistic interventions, among other things. This article delineates what justifies judgments of inauthenticity. It is argued that for persons who wish to live according to the prevailing social and moral standards and desires that are seriously undesirable according to those standards, it is justified to judge that a desire is inauthentic to the extent that it is due to causal factors that are alien to the person and to the extent that it deviates from the person’s practical identity. The article contributes to a tradition of thinking about authenticity which is known mainly from Frankfurt and Dworkin, and bridges the gap between theoretical ideals of authenticity and real authenticity-related problems in practical biomedical settings.QC 20180822</p

Estudos sobre superação de dormência em sementes de Smilax japecanga Grisebach

A propagação sexuada de Smilax japecanga Grisebach é limitada em razão da dormência de suas sementes, as quais levam de 6 a 8 meses para germinar, dificultando, assim, a obtenção de mudas. Com o objetivo de promover a germinação das sementes, experimentos foram conduzidos visando à superação de dormência, observando-se a germinação nos 35 dias subseqüentes aos tratamentos. Utilizaram-se escarificação mecânica, com esmeril e escarificação química, com ácido sulfúrico (98%), por 30 segundos, 1, 5 e 10 minutos; embebição em ácido giberélico (GA3), por 48 horas, às concentrações de 0,55; 1,1; 1,65 e 2,2 mM; e uma combinação da escarificação química, por 6 minutos, com a embebição em GA3 1,92 mM, por 48 horas. O uso de escarificação química seguida de embebição em GA3 promoveu a maior germinação (86%). A embebição em GA3 1,65 mM promoveu a germinação de 56% das sementes. Germinação inferior foi obtida por meio de escarificação mecânica (8%) e escarificação química por 1 minuto (7%).The sexual propagation of Smilax japecanga Grisebach is limited, due to seed dormancy which may take 6 to 8 months to overcome, making the production of seedlings a difficult task. In order to promote seed germination, experiments on dormancy breakage were performed. Mechanical scarification using an emery; chemical scarification with 98% sulfuric acid for 30 seconds, 1, 5 and 10 minutes; imbibition for 48 hours with GA3 0.55, 1.1, 1.65 and 2.2 mM and a combination of chemical scarification for 6 minutes plus imbibition in GA3 1.92 mM for 48 hours were used. The combination of chemical scarification plus imbibition with GA3 1.65 mM promoted the highest germination (86%), followed by imbibition in 1.65 mM GA3 (56%). Lower germination percentage was obtained using mechanical scarification (8%) and chemical scarification for 1 minute (7%)