Technology for enabling : the implications for management science of a hermeneutics of distinction

One way of describing this thesis, is to state that it attempts to explicate the context within which an application of Stafford Beer's Viable System Model (VSM) makes cybernetic sense. The thesis will attempt to explain how such a context is presently not clearly ennunciated, and why such a lack hinders communications of the model together with its consequent effective take-up by the student or practitioner. The epistemological grounding of the VSM will be described as concerning the ontology of the individuals who apply it and give witness to its application. In describing a particular grounding for the Viable System Model, I am instantiating a methodology which I call a `hermeneutics of distinction'. The final two chapters explicate such a methodology, and consider the implications for the design of a computer system. This thesis is grounded in contemporary insights into the nervous system, and research into the biology of language and cognition. Its conclusions emerge from a synthesis of the twin discourses of Stafford Beer and Humberto Maturana.

CuII chain compound showing a ferromagnetic coupling through triple N1,N2-1,2,4-triazole bridges

[Cu(hyetrz)3](CF3SO3)2·H2O [hyetrz = 4-(2′-hydroxyethyl)-1,2,4-triazole] represents the first structurally characterised ferromagnetically coupled CuII chain compound containing triple N1,N2-1,2,4-triazole bridges. catena-[μ-Tris{4-(2′-hydroxyethyl)-1,2,4-triazole-N1,N2}copper(II)] bis(trifluoromethanesulfonate) hydrate (C14H23F6S2O10CuN9) crystallises in the triclinic space group Pl, a = 13.54(3), b = 14.37(3), c = 15.61(4) Å, α = 95.9(1), β = 104.9(1), γ = 106.5(1)°, V = 2763(11) Å3, Z = 4 (CuII units). The CuII ions are linked by triple N1,N2-1,2,4-triazole bridges yielding an alternating chain with Cu1−Cu2 = 3.8842(4) Å and Cu2−Cu3 = 3.9354(4) Å. Analysis of the magnetic data according to a high-temperature series expansion gives a J value of +1.45(3) cm−1. The nature and the magnitude of the ferromagnetic exchange have been discussed on the basis of the structural features. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003).

A preliminary evaluation of a novel method to monitor a triple antioxidant combination (vitamins E, C and alpha-lipoic acid) in diabetic volunteers using in vitro methaemoglobin formation

Eight otherwise healthy diabetic volunteers took a daily antioxidant supplement consisting of vitamin E (200 IU), vitamin C (250 mg) and α-lipoic acid (90 mg) for a period of 6 weeks. Diabetic dapsone hydroxylamine-mediated methaemoglobin formation and resistance to erythrocytic thiol depletion was compared with age and sex-matched non-diabetic subjects. At time zero, methaemoglobin formation in the non-diabetic subjects was greater at all four time points compared with that of the diabetic subjects. Resistance to glutathione depletion was initially greater in non-diabetic compared with diabetic samples. Half-way through the study (3 weeks), there were no differences between the two groups in methaemoglobin formation and thiol depletion in the diabetic samples was now lower than the non-diabetic samples at 10 and 20 min. At 6 weeks, diabetic erythrocytic thiol levels remained greater than those of non-diabetics. HbA1c values were significantly reduced in the diabetic subjects at 6 weeks compared with time zero values. At 10 weeks, 4 weeks after the end of supplementation, the diabetic HbA1c values significantly increased to the point where they were not significantly different from the time zero values. Total antioxidant status measurement (TAS) indicated that diabetic plasma antioxidant capacity was significantly improved during antioxidant supplementation. Conversion of α-lipoic acid to dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) in vivo led to potent interference in a standard fructosamine assay kit, negating its use in this study. This report suggests that triple antioxidant therapy in diabetic volunteers attenuates the in vitro experimental oxidative stress of methaemoglobin formation and reduces haemoglobin glycation in vivo. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.