Main Motive Force Research Articles

Closure of the squid cornea: a muscular basis for embryonic tissue movement.

The squid cornea is derived from epithelial tissue behind the eyeball. The future cornea is pulled over the developing eyeball by contraction of muscle cells which develop just behind the leading edge. Treatment with cytochalasin B or colchicine does not stop this embryonic tissue movement, suggesting that the muscle is the main motive force in corneal closure.

Vasoactive peptides and regulation of hemodynamics in different functional states of the organism.

It is important to emphasize that the biochemical systems participating in humoral hemodynamic regulation may function at any level of the circulatory homeostasis: in the blood as a biological fluid constantly circulating along the vessels, at the microcirculatory bed where the exchange with tissues is realized, on the tonic activity of the resistive and capacitance vessels, defining the systemic blood pressure rate and organ redistribution, or, finally, on the main motive force of the blood, the heart. The interrelations of some molecular factors form the biochemical basis for the interaction of the main humoral systems. These factors are kallikrein for kinins and converting enzyme for the renin-angiotensin system, 9-ketoreductase and phospholipase for kinin and prostaglandin systems, and Hageman factors for coagulation, fibrinolysis, and kininogenesis systems. This main scheme includes "functional" connections, which are defined by a physiological interaction, and those between the central and peripheral nervous systems. We may, evidently, postulate an important biological regularity of a multi-functional participation of the same physiologically active factors in maintaining circulatory homeostasis. On the other hand, we have to emphasize the functional unity and joint correlating actions of different biochemical blood systems.

Asian Nationalism—The Second Stage

IMPRESSIONS gained on a rapid tour of Asia are inevitably superficial; but it is a way of obtaining a conspectus, of seeing the region in breadth if not in depth. Ten years had elapsed since my last tour-which is an additional handicap. But the gap between visits has perhaps one advantage: by highlighting the changes that have taken place in the interval it may illumine the trend of developments. One of the most striking features of contemporary Asia, to my mind, is the transition that has occurred, in the past decade, from the first to the second stageof nationalism. It is a commonplace that, since the Second World War, the main driving force acting upon the countries of Southern Asia has been the explosive power of nationalism. Under its impact the Western empires have crumbled, and a whole batch of new states has arisen. These newcomers not only owe their creation to the nationalist movement, but also have received from it their initial impetus and direction. This is not to minimise the contribution of Communism. Obviously it has made its mark; but it has not been the main motive force, only an auxiliary motor. It has been successful only in alliance with nationalism, not in opposition to it. Even in the case of China, as the Russians would be the first to recognise, the triumph of Mao was a nationalist rather than a Communist victory. In the first stage, nationalism was simple and straightforward. There was one overriding aim-independence-to which everybody could subscribe. The enemy, too, was obvious and alien. Consequently, everybody knew what they were for and whom they were against. Slogans were easy to coin, and could serve instead of a policy because they did in fact express the essence of such common policy as there was. The rallying cry of Merdeka found a response in all the islands of Indonesia. On my first arrival in Asia I recall being confronted with the exhortation painted in large letters on the quayside: 'Quit India'-not a very cordial wel come, but it was short and to the point, and something on which nationalists of every hue (and eventually the British) could agree. Political activity is no less habit-forming than any other, and political attitudes held over any considerable length of time tend to produce a certain rigidity of posture. In the British dependencies, political agitation had a style all of its own. So successful was the propagation of the sporting instinct and notions of fair play that the contest between the

Labour Allocation in a Cooperative Enterprise

Two methods of income distribution have been particularly associated with socialist thinking, " to each according to his needs " and " to each according to his work ". In the literature on socialism it is the latter system that has been mostly studied. Marx felt the former system to be appropriate only at the " higher phase of the communist society," and emphasized the principle of distribution " proportional to the amount of labour they contribute ", in the " first phase " of the communist society.2 While discussions in the Marxist literature have concentrated mainly on distribution according to work, in particular on the utilisation of the wage system, actuat methods of payments in socialist economies have often departed from this rule, the most notable example of this being in Chinese agriculture. On the other plane of discussion, in the theoretical literature on resource allocation with decentralized planning, the emphasis has been on reaching Pareto-optimality, and that, with the usual assumptions, has been found to fit in well with a wage system.3 There have of course been discussions on correcting the distribution according to work towards the goal of distribution according to needs through a set of taxes and subsidies, but the basic method of payment that has been considered has always been some variant or other of the wage system. The actual organization of enterprises in communist countries tend to depart from a pure wage system in at least two different ways: (i) in the use of some variant of profitsharing over and above a wage system,4 and (ii) in having a part of the income distributed on some criteria other than that of work, e.g. some interpretation of " needs ".5 There is not yet a distinct body of literature on the theory of non-wage allocation of labour; nevertheless, in the context of policy debates, the following questions have repeatedly cropped up. (1) What are the difficulties in having a system of distribution purely according to needs? While in the U.S.S.R. and in Eastern Europe there has not been any large-scale attempt to have payments primarily according to needs, the Chinese leaders have tried to break through the problem of incentives involved in this, and it has even been claimed that " ideally, the party leaders would like non-material incentives to become the main motive force impelling the masses on to greater output .6 (2) What difficulties are there in having a system of distribution purely according to work, even profits being shared on that basis? Based on Yugoslav experience Ward [211

The Modern Problem of the Care of the Aged

THIS conference has been called together for a very definite purpose, to consider from all possible angles the question of proper care of the aged. This is one of the unusual gatherings to which those who are responsible for it need offer no apologies for the small attendance, which is in accordance with the predetermined plans. The purpose of the conference is not so much propaganda (though I for one do not for a moment subscribe to the assumed and often not altogether honest condemnation of all propaganda). In an age when high-power salesmanship has become the main motive force of economic growth and its principles have even penetrated the highest institutions of scientific, ethical, or religious teaching, it is a little naive to pretend to make faces at propaganda. In social progress, it has its place, but if it is to be a constructive force it must be based upon knowledge, understanding, and a constructive social program. If out of this conference, therefore, there should develop any material for wholesome propaganda, I for one shall have no occasion to regret it, but what the program is to be