Filetype
A central debate in conspiracy theory research concerns how to conceptualise conspiracy theories in a way that advances our understanding of the phenomena themselves as well as of those who believe in them. This debate remains unresolved, with researchers adopting widely different positions: while some argue for a purely descriptive understanding, others are strongly committed to the view that con
In a recent paper Pedroni and Yao (2006) present strong evidence suggesting that Chinese regional output is diverging, a result that flies in the face of the current opinion of Chinese policymakers. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the reasoning behind this finding. Our main result is that divergence does exist, even when new data and more advanced methods of analysis are used. We also
Maternal effects have become an important field of study in evolutionary ecology and there is an ongoing debate regarding their adaptive significance. Some maternal effects can act to increase offspring fitness and are called 'adaptive maternal effects'. However, other maternal effects decrease offspring fitness and there is confusion regarding whether certain maternal effects are indeed adaptive
Apelin, a recently discovered peptide with wide tissue distribution, regulates feeding behavior, improves glucose utilization, and inhibits insulin secretion. We examined whether apelin is expressed in human islets, as well as in normal and type 2 diabetic (T2D) animal islets. Further, we studied islet apelin regulation and the effect of apelin on insulin secretion. Apelin expression and regulatio
During the last 20 years a tremendous improvement in the care of patients with pituitary tumors and of hypopituitarism has been achieved. If we resolve most of the possible causes of the increased cardiovascular disease and stroke mortality a normal survival is expected in these patients. Recently, a large population based study showed a decline in the risk of non-fatal stroke and of non-fatal car
We present a solution for optimal triangulation in three views. The solution is guaranteed to find the optimal solution because it computes all the stationary points of the (maximum likelihood) objective function. Internally, the solution is found by computing roots of multivariate polynomial equations, directly solving the conditions for stationarity. The solver makes use of standard methods from
One does not have to be an ethical non-cognitivist to find that moral guidance sometimes is totally absent. The agent may be confronted by a new kind of problem, or he may feel that the rules presented are too unclear to give any guidance, or he may quite simply regard established morality as without foundation. 1. Total ignorance; 2. Synthesis; 3. Towards solution; 4. Universal validity; 5; Ethic
