Locating Business Ethics within Catholic Social Though

Resumen: El artículo describe las características principales del documento pontificio La vocación del líder empresarial: una reflexión, destacando su génesis y sus objetivos. Sin embargo, presenta también las debilidades que encuentra en el texto. En primer lugar, el autor critica el modo en que se tratan las cuestiones laborales, especialmente la falta de referencias a la noción de “empleador indirecto” de Juan Pablo II. Luego, postula que el documento tampoco presenta el problema de la organización del trabajo, tema que fue tratado tanto por el Papa Pío XI como por Juan Pablo II. Por otra parte, aclara que el documento hace referencia al derecho a un salario justo pero no aporta ideas acerca del modo en que debería articularse la relación entre los propietarios de la empresa y los trabajadores. Finalmente, el autor sostiene que el documento omite el problema del lobbying que tanto afecta a la moral del mercado

Una introducción a temas y tensiones presentes en el documento

Resumen: El artículo recorre los antecedentes que dieron origen al Documento de la Comisión Teológica Internacional sobre ley natural, con particular referencia a las intervenciones de Juan Pablo II y Benedicto XVI. Presenta sucintamente algunos temas del documento, a saber: la búsqueda de un patrimonio ético común a la humanidad en las tradiciones culturales; la cuestión de la experiencia moral y la llamada interior a hacer el bien; la justificación filosófica de la ley natural; el orden político de la sociedad y el tema de Jesucristo, plenitud de la ley natural. También se consideran las tensiones que subyacen al mismo, con particular referencia a las problemáticas de modernidad ilustrada y posmodernidad, laicismo y laicidad y iusnaturalismo y positivismo jurídico.

Una presencia que conoce : mensajes de Juan Pablo II para la Jornada Mundial del Enfermo

El artículo “Una presencia que conoce” presenta una parte del trabajo que el autor realizó sobre los mensajes del papa Juan Pablo II para la Jornada Mundial del Enfermo y que próximamente se podrá conocer con el título “El amor de los que sufren” publicado por Ed. San Benito con prólogo de la Dra. Beatriz Balián de Tagtachian. El profundo estudio de los trece Mensajes del Santo Padre para la Jornada Mundial del Enfermo analiza qué concepto de enfermo tiene el papa Juan Pablo II, cuáles son sus presupuestos antropológicos y qué sentido tiene la enfermedad en el plan de Dios sobre cada uno de los hombres; cuál es la misión de la Iglesia, y qué tipo de acompañamiento necesitan los enfermos para que podamos imitar la solicitud de la Virgen María. En estas páginas se aborda el significado y la finalidad de la Jornada Mundial del Enfermo, la importancia que el Papa atribuye a ésta para la misión de la Iglesia en el mundo, los objetivos que él ha determinado para esta jornada y el modo de celebrarla que ha sugerido.

Spying on Science : Western Intelligence in Divided Germany, 1945-1961

Maddrell, John, Spying on Science: Western Intelligence in Divided Germany, 1945-1961 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp.xi+330 RAE2008

The Scientist Who Came in from the Cold: Heinz Barwich's Flight from the GDR

Maddrell, John, 'The Scientist Who Came in from the Cold: Heinz Barwich's Flight from the GDR', Intelligence and National Security (2005) 20(4) pp.608-630 RAE2008

What we have discovered about the Cold War is what we already knew : Julius Mader and the Western secret services during the Cold War

Maddrell, John, 'What we have discovered about the Cold War is what we already knew: Julius Mader and Western Espionage during the Cold War', Cold War History (2005) 5(2) pp.235-258 RAE2008

Odnowienie jedności Metropolii Kijowskiej ze Stolicą Apostolską według Jana Pawła II

Wydział Teologiczny: Zakład Teologii Fundamentalnej i Ekumenicznej

Meanings of the Sabbath for Worship in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church

This study investigates the meanings and significance of the seventh-day Sabbath for worship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In recent years, both the day and concept of Sabbath have attracted ecumenical attention, but the focus of scholarship has been placed on Sunday as the Lord's Day or Sabbath with little consideration given to the seventh-day Sabbath. In contrast, this project examines the seventh-day Sabbath and worship on that day from theological, liturgical, biblical and historical perspectives. Although not intended as an apology for Seventh-day Adventist practices, the work does strive to promote a critical and creative conversation with other theological and liturgical traditions in order to promote mutual, ecumenical understanding. Historical research into the origins and nature of the principal day for weekly Christian worship provides a starting point for discussion on Sabbath. Reconsideration of the relationship between Judaism and early Christianity in recent studies suggests that the influence of Judaism lasted longer than previously supposed, thereby prolonging the developmental process of Sabbath (seventh day) to Sunday. A possible coexistence of Sabbath and Sunday in early Christianity offers an alternative to perspectives that dichotomize Sabbath and Sunday from Christian antiquity onward, and thus for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, suggests biblical and historical validity for their Sabbath worship practice. Recent theological perspectives on Sabbath and Sunday are examined, particularly those of Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann and Pope John Paul II. While all three of these theologians stress the continuity of Sabbath and Sunday and speak mainly to a theology of Sunday, they do highlight the significance of Sabbath—which is relevant to an interpretation of seventh-day Sabbath worship. The study concludes that the seventh-day Sabbath is significant for worship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church because it symbolizes the relationship between God and human beings, reminds humanity of the creating and redeeming God who acts in history, and invites persons to rest and fellowship with God on a day sanctified by God.

The efficacy of a CDIO based integrated curriculum as preparation for professional practice in product design and development

The School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast started BEng and MEng degree programmes in Product Design and Development (PDD) in 2004. Intended from the outset to be significantly different from the existing programmes within the School the PDD degrees used the syllabus and standards defined by the CDIO Initiative as the basis for an integrated curriculum. Students are taught in the context of conceiving, designing, implementing and operating a product. Fundamental to this approach is a core sequence of Design-Build-Test (DBT) experiences which facilitates the development of a range of professional skills as well as the immediate application of technical knowledge gained in strategically aligned supporting modules.
The key objective of the degree programmes is to better prepare students for professional practice. PDD graduates were surveyed using a questionnaire developed by the CDIO founders and interviewed to examine the efficacy of these degree programmes, particularly in this key objective. Graduate employment rates, self assessment of graduate attributes and examples of work produced by MEng graduates provided positive evidence that their capabilities met the requirements of the profession. The 24% questionnaire response rate from the 96 graduates to date did not however facilitate statistically significant conclusions to be drawn and particularly not for BEng graduates who were under represented in the response group. While not providing proof of efficacy the investigation did provide a good amount of useful data for consideration as part of a continuous improvement process.

Quantitative Analysis of Fault and Fracture Systems and their Impact on Groundwater Flow in Irish Bedrock Aquifers

Fault and fracture systems are the most important store and pathway for groundwater in Ireland’s bedrock aquifers, either directly as conductive flow structures, or indirectly as the locus for the development of dolomitised limestone and karst. This article presents the preliminary results of a study involving the quantitative analysis of fault and fracture systems in the broad range of Irish bedrock types and a consideration of their impact on groundwater flow. The principal aims of the project are to develop generic conceptual models for different fault/fracture systems in different lithologies and at different depths, and to link them to observed groundwater behaviour. Here we briefly describe the geometrical characteristics of the main post-Devonian fault/fracture systems controlling groundwater flow from field observations at outcrops, quarries and mines. The structures range from Lower Carboniferous normal faults through to Variscan-related faults and veins, with the most recent structures including Tertiary strike-slip faults and ubiquitous uplift-related joint systems. The geometrical characteristics of different fault/fracture systems combined with observations of groundwater behaviour in both quarry and mine localities, can be linked to general flow and transport conceptualisations of Irish fractured bedrock. Most importantly they also provide a basis for relating groundwater flow to particular fault/fracture systems and their expression with depth and within different lithological sequences, as well as their regional variability.

Practicing peace: Psychological roots of transforming conflicts

The practice of sustainable peace is a process that must be initiated, nourished and revised. The
“social energies” of conflict transformation – truth, mercy, justice, peace – offer a useful model to describe the transformative power of this practice. These social energies can be conceptualized as a combination of norms or values, on the one hand, and actions directed toward social reconstruction, on the other. As such, the social energies of conflict transformation are both the guideposts and the engine in the journey of practicing sustainable peace. This article begins by
linking psychological constructs of narrative/voice, empathy/altruism, individual/collective guilt, and security/fear with the social energies, highlighting the interdependence of processes and shifting the focus away from pathology toward an emphasis on harmony. An empirical application of how the four social energies contribute to the mobilization, maintenance and adaptations in on-going peace processes in post-war Guatemala is then presented. By analyzing the interaction among diverse actors and goals in the decade and a half since the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords, current theory is extended in two ways: a) differentiation between elite and grassroots initiatives, and b) specification and evaluation the impact of various efforts on episodic and structural violence. We conclude that although national and local processes have
had limited success, more integrated practices of truth, mercy, justice and peace are necessary if Guatemala is to make sustainable peace a reality. The findings from this case study have policy and practical implications for other countries facing protracted, violent conflict.

c-Kit+ progenitors generate vascular cells for tissue-engineered grafts through modulation of the Wnt/Klf4 pathway

The development of decellularised scaffolds for small diameter vascular grafts is hampered by their limited patency, due to the lack of luminal cell coverage by endothelial cells (EC) and to the low tone of the vessel due to absence of a contractile smooth muscle cells (SMC). In this study, we identify a population of vascular progenitor c-Kit+/Sca-1- cells available in large numbers and derived from immuno-privileged embryonic stem cells (ESCs). We also define an efficient and controlled differentiation protocol yielding fully to differentiated ECs and SMCs in sufficient numbers to allow the repopulation of a tissue engineered vascular graft. When seeded ex vivo on a decellularised vessel, c-Kit+/Sca-1-derived cells recapitulated the native vessel structure and upon in vivo implantation in the mouse, markedly reduced neointima formation and mortality, restoring functional vascularisation. We showed that Krüppel-like transcription factor 4 (Klf4) regulates the choice of differentiation pathway of these cells through β-catenin activation and was itself regulated by the canonical Wnt pathway activator lithium chloride. Our data show that ESC-derived c-Kit+/Sca-1-cells can be differentiated through a Klf4/β-catenin dependent pathway and are a suitable source of vascular progenitors for the creation of superior tissue-engineered vessels from decellularised scaffolds.

Supporting Creative, Whole Peacebuilders: An Apprenticeship Program

This chapter has two major sections, one by Lederach and the apprentices, and one by Goldberg. The introduction above represents an amalgam of Lederach’s own writing and Goldberg’s, which summarizes some key information, but loses in written flow what it gains in information. As Goldberg reviewed Lederach’s initial chapter, she became deeply interested and asked Lederach for further materials. She conducted two interviews and collected background and supplementary materials and used them to explore some areas that were touched on by Lederach, but, if expanded, offered greater richness. In order to preserve the clarity of writing, the material will be presented in two sections. The first will include Lederach’s original chapter with the apprentice narratives. We start with an overview provided by John Paul that describes several practices incorporated into the process of the past three years. Each of the four apprentices will then reflect on how they experienced these practices and the impact, if any, they have had on their lives and professional careers. Each segment written by Lederach and the apprentices is written in the first person, starting with Lederach’s practices, below. Following will be Goldberg’s work deepening the information presented in Lederach’s section, and the conclusion.

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus : opportunities in comparative genomics and molecular host–parasite interactions

Most Bursaphelenchus species are fungal feeding nematodes that colonize dead or dying trees. However, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus , the pine wood nematode, is also a pathogen of trees and is the causal agent of pine wilt disease. B. xylophilus is native to North America and here it causes little damage to trees. Where it is introduced to new regions it causes huge damage. The most severely affected areas are found in the Far East but more recently B. xylophilus has been introduced into Portugal and the potential for damage here is also high. As incidence and severity of pine wilt disease are linked to temperature we suggest that climate change is likely to exacerbate the problems caused by B. xylophilus and, in addition, will extend (northwards in Europe) the range in which pine wilt disease can occur. Here we review what is currently known about the interactions of B. xylophilus with its hosts, including recent developments in our understanding of the molecular biology of pathogenicity in the nematode. We also examine the potential developments that could be made by more widespread use of genomics tools to understand interactions between B. xylophilus , bacterial pathogens that have been implicated in disease and host trees.