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This chapter examines the neuromolecular and plastic brain. Ideas about plasticity and the openness of brains to environment influences, from initial evidence about nerve development, through the recognition that synaptic plasticity was the very basis of learning and memory, to evidence about the influence of environment on gene expression and the persistence throughout life of the capacity to make new neurons—all this made the neuromolecular brain seem exquisitely open to its milieu, with changes at the molecular level occurring throughout the course of a human life and thus shaping the growth, organization, and regeneration of neurons and neuronal circuits at time scales from the millisecond to the decade. This was an opportunity to explore the myriad ways in which the milieu got “under the skin,” implying an openness of these molecular processes of the brain to biography, sociality, and culture, and hence perhaps even to history and politics.

This book has addressed some aspects of Tudor Catholicism in order to bring to light a particular body of literature which might serve to elucidate the inner workings of Reformation thought in England. It has argued that the strength of English Catholicism should perhaps be sought, not in its traditionalism, but in its adaptability, and its capacity for regeneration. The preoccupations of modern Catholicism should no more blind us to the reforming tendencies of the Reformation Catholic Church. Instead it should be possible to discern the stirrings of Catholic Reformation in Tudor England. This was a bid for reform which pre-dated the development of Protestantism. The ideas expressed in the works studied here suggest that, in its early stages, the English Reformation was arguably as much about consensus as it was about religious conflict. The legacy of humanism was forged by Henry VIII into a body of reformist opinions on which both Catholics and Protestants were able to build.

Consistent with the Edwardsian emphasis on revival, Taylorite preachers inundated New England audiences with constant pleas for immediate repentance. Taylor's doctrine of regeneration crystallized in response to a treatise by Gardiner Spring, Dissertation on the Means of Regeneration. Taylor's doctrine led to charges of Pelagianism from his opponents. Sweeney argues that through his understanding of regeneration, Taylor sought to shape a theology that proved both modern and well grounded in evangelical Calvinist orthodoxy. Thus, while he worked with all his might to promote the human duty to have faith, he found this effort perfectly consistent with a doctrine of dependence.

This chapter assumes that the executive committee of Ahdut Ha-Avoda did what was necessary to explain the position to its allied organizations abroad. That debate had only one purpose: under cover of “democracy,” to sully Hebrew and the Hebrews in the eyes of their readers. In the world of the Hebrew worker in Eretz-Israel, the question of languages does not exist. The complete revival of the Jewish people lies in the regeneration of the life of the nation in its land and in its language, and in the renewal of a full, organic life. There is only one practical question of language: how to hasten the complete revival of the language among the entire nation, how to make the treasures of Hebrew culture the property not only of exceptional individuals, but of the entire nation.

This chapter examines the development of the ‘culture of war’ in Europe, focusing on France, from the Old Regime through the First Empire. It argues that before the Revolution, French aristocratic elites saw warfare as an ordinary part of human existence — and indeed, if kept under proper control, a positive and desirable one. It then shows how this idea was challenged during the Enlightenment, by critics who saw warfare as extraordinary and aberrant, with some deeming it extraordinarily horrible, and others depicting it, at least potentially, as extraordinarily sublime and regenerative. The chapter discusses how these conflicting ideas helped to shape the actual practice and course of the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, looking particularly at the question of why these wars proved so terribly difficult to control, restrain, and bring to an end.

In addition to being the sacrament of justification, baptism for Ambrose is also the sacrament of regeneration. That is, baptism is a proleptic participation in the resurrection and the accompanying transformation of mortal humanity. This chapter examines Ambrose’s view of the resurrection that is paradigmatic for our understanding of life in the new creation. Resurrection is the final deliverance of the Christian from the body of death, not by the separation of the soul from the body but by the healing of the body so that its impulses are no longer at war with the dominion of the mind.

This chapter considers the needs, ways, and means to describe respiratory activities within ordinary differential equation based dynamic models of planktonic organisms. An overview of the relationship between respiration, regeneration, and biogeochemical cycling precedes an introduction to ordinary differential equation modeling and to different types of models. Individual subsections consider modeling respiration in bacteria, phytoplankton, and zooplankton (both micro' and meso' forms). The conclusions include a consideration on future directions, noting that a critical limiting factor is the lack of experimental data from ecologically important organisms that are suitable for model development and parameterization.

Over the last twenty years the combined effects of El Niñno-induced droughts and land-use change have greatly increased the frequency of fire incidents in humid tropical forests. Despite the potential for rapid ecosystem alteration and the current prevalence of wildfire disturbance, the consequences of such fires for tropical forest biodiversity remain poorly understood. This chapter provides a pantropical review of the current state of knowledge on these fires, including new data from seasonally dry forests in central Brazilian Amazonia. Tree mortality and changes in forest structure are strongly linked to burn severity. Despite the paucity of data on faunal responses to tropical forest fires, some trends are becoming apparent; for example, large canopy frugivores and understorey insectivorous birds appear to be highly sensitive to changes in forest structure and composition during the first years following fires. Finally, the viability of techniques and legislation for reducing forest flammability and preventing anthropogenic ignition sources from coming into contact with flammable forests is tested.

William F. Laurance provides an overview of contemporary habitat loss in this chapter. Vast amounts of habitat destruction have already occurred. for instance, about half of all global forest cover has been lost, and forests have virtually vanished in over 50 nations worldwide. Habitat destruction has been highly uneven among different ecosystems. From a geographic perspective, islands, coastal areas, wetlands, regions with large or growing human populations, and emerging agricultural frontiers are all sustaining rapid habitat loss. From a biome perspective, habitat loss has been very high in Mediterranean forests, temperate forest‐steppe and woodland, temperate broadleaf forests, and tropical coniferous forests. Other ecosystems, particularly tropical rainforests, are now disappearing rapidly. Habitat destruction in the temperate zone peaked in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Although considerable habitat loss is occurring in some temperate ecosystems, overall forest cover is now increasing from forest regeneration and plantation establishment in some temperate regions. Primary (old‐growth) habitats are rapidly diminishing across much of the earth. In their place, a variety of semi‐natural or intensively managed ecosystems are being established. For example, although just two‐tenths of the temperate coniferous forests have disappeared, vast areas are being converted from old‐growth to timber‐production forests, with a greatly simplified stand structure and species composition. Boreal ecosystems have suffered relatively limited reductions to date but are especially vulnerable to global warming. Boreal forests could become increasingly vulnerable to destructive fires if future conditions become warmer or drier.

Gladstone was brought up as an Evangelical, but soon diverged from his earlier position by adopting the doctrine of baptismal regeneration and accepting a high view of the visible church. Although he continued to value religious experience, during the 1830s he sided with Orthodox High Churchmen in abandoning claims about the possibility of firm assurance of salvation. He did not, however, follow Newman in seeing human merit as a ground of justification. In 1838 he published The State in its Relations with the Church in order to vindicate the principle of establishment, revealing in the revised edition of 1841 a remarkable affinity with contemporary German political philosophy. His Church Principles considered in their Results (1840) argued the claims of the Church of England on the basis of his communitarian social premises, but he acknowledged the authenticity of faith outside its bounds.

Tensions occur when a church practices infant baptism but also expects personal faith or even an experience of conversion from its members. Methodists in America struggled theologically with the meaning and purpose of baptism for both infants and adults, especially regarding the issues of original sin, baptismal regeneration, and the connection between baptism and church membership. The theological positions reached on the sacrament were often honed from controversies with other Christians, who pressed the Methodists regarding the subjects and modes of baptism. Methodist baptismal rites saw significant alterations, and new rites related to Christian initiation developed for membership, confirmation, and baptismal renewal.

This chapter is concerned with the slow processes and cellular adaptations taking place after the transection of motor axons. For axotomized motoneurones, changes occur in their morphology, membrane properties, and synaptic cover. Denervated muscle fibres become atrophic and weak, their membrane properties are altered and they may become spontaneously active (fibrillation). After transection, peripheral motor axons will regenerate and, ultimately, reinnervate denervated muscle fibres that they might come across. Such reinnervation will promote a change of muscle fibre properties back toward normal. In very young mammals, but generally not in adults, regenerating peripheral axons may be (partly) capable of finding their own original target muscles. Properties of muscle fibres may change after reinnervation by types of motoneurones other than their original ones (cross-reinnervation experiments). In partially denervated muscles, collateral reinnervation may occur by sprouting of new collaterals from surviving motor axons.

The capacity for injured neurons to regenerate axons and remake functional connections with target organs distinguishes the peripheral from the central nervous system. This unique characteristic of the peripheral nervous system stems from the ability of the Schwann cells (SCs). In consequence, return of function after peripheral nerve injuries contrasts with permanent deficits associated with central nerve injuries. However, functional recovery after nerve injuries in humans is generally poor, despite the capacity of injured peripheral nerves to regenerate their axons. This chapter reviews the response of SCs to peripheral nerve injury in animal models. The contributions of injured neurons, SCs, and macrophages to the regenerative process in the peripheral nervous system appear to be interlinked such that there is a window of opportunity during which the growth potential of the neurons translates into outgrowth and extension of regenerating axons. This window of opportunity is closely linked to the period during which there is active Wallerian degeneration when macrophages interact with SCs to provide the permissive growth environment. The progressive but slow advancement of regenerating axons from the proximal nerve across the site of nerve transection and repair severely slows the progress of axonal growth into the distal nerve stumps. This delay further reduces the regenerative capacity of neurons as a result of prolonged axotomy and denervation.

This chapter discusses axonal regeneration in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS). In contrast to the situation in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), where injured axons often regenerate successfully over long distances, axonal regeneration is minimal or absent in the adult mammalian CNS. Therefore, CNS trauma often results in severe and permanent deficits.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating and devastating condition that affects approximately 11,000 new people in the United States each year. Understanding of the pathophysiology and potential points of therapeutic intervention for human SCI has been shaped strongly by the results of studies performed in laboratory animals. This chapter discusses multiple targets for therapeutic interventions focusing on cell transplantation approaches, discusses the application of multiple cells types in SCI models, and considers how cell-intrinsic properties as well as exogenous factors in the host microenvironment may influence the ability of various cell populations to survive, differentiate, and promote locomotor recovery following SCI. Studies conducted on transplanting human central nervous system-derived neural stem cells (HuCNS-SCs) at selected time points along the acute to chronic continuum are described, demonstrating that, depending on timing, HuCNS-SCs have the ability to promote locomotor recovery and that the microenvironment influences cell fate.

This chapter reviews recent studies that suggest that it is no longer tenable to consider glial cells as passive support cells. These studies have shown that interactions between neurons and glial cells control neurogenesis, myelination, node of Ranvier formation, synapse formation, and maybe even neuronal signaling. It is argued that the development, structure, and function of the brain all depend on an intimate neuron-glia partnership. A full understanding of nearly all neurobiological processes must include consideration of the role of glial cells.

This chapter presents some results and examples on the invariant distributions of monotone Markov processes. It summarizes the fundamental results on the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the invariant distribution for the Dubins-Freedman as well as Lindley-Spitzer processes. It also examines the speed of convergence. The derivation of the analytical properties of invariant distributions is known to be problematic. Majumdar and Hashimzade provide a concrete example of a class of Markov processes whereby it is possible to completely identify the unique invariant distribution. They also discuss the relevance of such processes in policies dealing with management of renewable resources that allows for (random) regeneration. This chapter considers a model that describes a policy of ‘constant harvesting’ or ‘constant yield’ in renewable resource management.