Desmosomes are junctions involved in intercellular adhesion of epithelial cells and hemidesmosomes are junctions involved in adhesion of epithelia to basement membranes. Both are characterised at the ultrastructural level by dense cytoplasmic plaques which are linked to the intermediate filament cytoskeleton of the cells. The plaques strongly resemble each other suggesting a relationship between the two kinds of junctions, as implied by their names. Recent characterisation of the molecular components of the junctions shows they are, in fact, quite unrelated implying (...) that structural similarity is fortuitous. The molecular biology raises many fascinating problems relating to their structure and function. (shrink)

I have not read the Thebais more than three times, nor ever with intent care and interest; and although in putting these notes together I have consulted a large number of editions—Bernartius, Tiliobroga, Geuartius, Cruceus, Gronouius, Barthius, Veenhusen, Beraldus , ed. Bipontina, Lemaire , Queck, O. Mueller , Kohlmann, Wilkins, Garrod, Klotz, and the translations of Marolles, Nisard, and Mozley —it may well be that profitable matter has escaped me and that some of my comments have been made before.

Epithelia can be defined morphologically as tissues that line surfaces, and ultrastructurally with reference to their cells' apico‐basal polarity and possession of specific cell‐cell junctions. Defining the epithelial phenotype at a molecular level is more problematic ‐ while it is easy to name proteins (e.g. keratins) expressed by a “typical” epithelium, no known molecules are expressed by every epithelium but by no other tissues. Cells can differentiate to and from the epithelial state as part of normal development, as a response (...) to disease or when manipulated in culture. Many factors (matrix components, adhesion molecules, growth factors, transcription factors) have been identified that can trigger these transitions of phenotype in specific cases, but to date no general master regulators of the epithelial state have been found. The epithelial state may therefore be controlled by multiple regulatory genes so that there is no single molecule responsible for all of the diverse types of epithelium that exist in higher animals. (shrink)

How might a human communication system be bootstrapped in the absence of conventional language? We argue that motivated signs play an important role (i.e., signs that are linked to meaning by structural resemblance or by natural association). An experimental study is then reported in which participants try to communicate a range of pre-specified items to a partner using repeated non-linguistic vocalization, repeated gesture, or repeated non-linguistic vocalization plus gesture (but without using their existing language system). Gesture proved more effective (measured (...) by communication success) and more efficient (measured by the time taken to communicate) than non-linguistic vocalization across a range of item categories (emotion, object, and action). Combining gesture and vocalization did not improve performance beyond gesture alone. We experimentally demonstrate that gesture is a more effective means of bootstrapping a human communication system. We argue that gesture outperforms non-linguistic vocalization because it lends itself more naturally to the production of motivated signs. (shrink)

Dialog is a joint action at different levels. At the highest level, the goal of interlocutors is to align their mental representations. This emerges from joint activity at lower levels, both concerned with linguistic decisions (e.g., choice of words) and nonlinguistic processes (e.g., alignment of posture or speech rate). Because of the high‐level goal, the interlocutors are particularly concerned with close coupling at these lower levels. As we illustrate with examples, this means that imitation and entrainment are particularly pronounced during (...) interactive communication. We then argue that the mechanisms underlying such processes involve covert imitation of interlocutors’ communicative behavior, leading to emulation of their expected behavior. In other words, communication provides a very good example of predictive emulation, in a way that leads to successful joint activity. (shrink)

Pickering & Garrod's (P&G's) call to study language processing in dialogue context is an appealing one. Their interactive alignment model is ambitious, aiming to explain the converging behavior of dialogue partners via both intra- and interpersonal priming. However, they ignore the flexible, partner-specific processing demonstrated by some recent dialogue studies. We discuss implications of these data.

No one denies that people adapt what they say and how they interpret what is said to them, depending on their interactive partners. What is controversial is when and how they do so. Several psycholinguistics research programs have found what appear to be failures to adapt to partners in the early moments of processing and have used this evidence to argue for modularity in the language processing architecture, claiming that the system cannot take into account a partner’s distinct needs or (...) knowledge early in processing. We review the evidence for both early and delayed partner‐specific adaptations, and we identify some challenges and difficulties with interpreting this evidence. We then discuss new analyses from a previously published referential communication experiment (Metzing & Brennan, 2003) demonstrating that partner‐specific effects need not occur late in processing. In contrast to Pickering and Garrod (2004) and Keysar, Barr, and Horton (1998b), we conclude that there is no good evidence that early processing has to be be “egocentric,”“dumb,” or encapsulated from social knowledge or common ground, but that under some circumstances, such as when one partner has made an attribution about another’s knowledge or needs, processing can be nimble enough to adapt quite early to a perspective different from one’s own. (shrink)

A provocative Target Article in this issue of AJOB proposes a new approach to decision-making for babies born in the “gray-zone” at the margins of viability. Titled “Postponed Withholding: balanced...

Despite the growing debate about scholarly impact, an analysis of the onto-epistemic grammar underlying impact has remained absent. By taking a different analytical approach to examining impact, we interrogate the concept through the lens of decolonial thought. We offer an empathetic review of the impact scholarship and illuminate the limits of the modern imaginary that circumscribe critiques of impact in the literature, making visible the Eurocentric and provincial horizons of modern reason underlying these critiques and impact in general. Drawing on (...) Śūnyatā ontological perspective, we seek to articulate from modernity imaginary’s edges and suggest imagining and being otherwise. We argue that the question of scholarly impact is intimately structured by and connected to the modern subject’s desire for ontological security. (shrink)

We investigate the causal effects of religious service attendance on prosocial behaviours using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of 33,198 New Zealanders collected between 2018 and 2021. Our study innovates in three ways: (1) we use longitudinal rather than cross-sectional data; (2) we incorporate measures of help received alongside self-reported giving; and (3) our statistical models are designed to address causal questions, rather than simply to describe change over time. We model causal contrasts for three hypothetical interventions – (...) increasing, decreasing, or maintaining religious service attendance – and assess their effects on eight distinct prosocial domains. Study 1 focuses on self-reported charitable donations and volunteering. Studies 2 and 3 examine receiving help – both personal and financial – from family, friends, and the wider community. Across all analyses, we find that the causal effects of religious service attendance are notably smaller than cross-sectional correlations suggest. However, even modest increases in regular attendance would result in charitable donations equivalent to approximately 4% of the New Zealand Government’s annual spending – a considerable public benefit. By applying robust methods for causal inference to national-scale panel data, our study provides insights that can inform public policy about the social functions of religious participation and advances a methodological framework for investigating the social consequences of cultural practices. (shrink)

The concept of predisposition in medicine is ancient, and the term diathesis was used to express it since the days of Hippocrates and, especially, of Galen.The concept of diathesis was enormously popular throughout the nineteenth century, despite the vagueness of its actual meaning. It was clarified only in the early years of the twentieth century (1902), when it was however losing its clinical relevance, by a replacement of the concept ofchemical individuality by A.E. Garrod, followed thirty years later by (...) the concept ofinborn factors in disease (1931). (shrink)

The 2002 Dutch Euthanasia law applies to patients aged 12 years and older. Developments in end-of-life care and decision-making in the last decade have sparked the debate about usefulness and necessity to extend euthanasia to include children under 12 years of age. This paper describes two opposite positions: the affirmative position of a pediatrician and expert in pediatric palliative care and the negative position of a jurist and specialist in health law.

So far his weapons of defence are taken from a common armoury; but in the next verses he develops the argumentum ad hominem which was foreshadowed in ‘eques’ and ‘intra fortunam qui cupis esse tuam.’ Such promptings, says he, come strangely from Maecenas, whose own discreetness and self-repression will be famous in history, and whom he is resolved, so far as in him lies, to imitate.

Freedom to smoke is part and parcel of overall freedom. The former cannot be abrogated without violating the latter. The present paper applies this insight to the regulations placed on the tobacco industry and smoking in general. We find that government interventions into people’s lives regarding smoking are highly incompatible with libertarian principles. We examine many regulations such as prohibiting youths from smoking, preventing second hand smoke, restrictions on advertising, taxing the industry, and liability issues.

A July, 1990, controversy in British Columbia, Canada, involved a set of audiotapes detailing an apparent abuse of power by the province's attorney general and a relationship between the attorney general and a member of the press. The controversy was covered extensively in local media. A discussion of relevant ethical issues is followed by an analysis of their coverage in the press. Recommendations are made for more effective handling of ethical issues by media organizations and more meaningful reporting of such (...) issues. (shrink)