Feedback loops have been identified in a variety of regulatory systems and organisms. While feedback loops of the same type (negative or positive) tend to have properties in common, they can play distinctively diverse roles in different regulatory systems, where they can affect virulence in a pathogenic bacterium, maturation patterns of vertebrate oocytes and transitions through cell cycle phases in eukaryotic cells. This review focuses on the properties and functions of positive feedback in biological systems, including bistability, hysteresis and activation (...) surges. BioEssays 30:542–555, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The causative agent of COVID‐19 SARS‐CoV‐2 has led to over 4 million deaths worldwide. Understanding the origin of this coronavirus is important for the prevention of future outbreaks. The dominant point of view that the virus transferred to humans either directly from bats or through an intermediate mammalian host has been challenged by Segreto and Deigin, who claim that the genome of SARS‐CoV‐2 has certain features suggestive of its artificial creation. Following their response to our commentary, here we continue the (...) discussion of the proposed arguments for this hypothesis. We show that neither the existence of a furin cleavage site in SARS‐CoV‐2, nor the presence of specific sequences within the nucleotide insertion encoding that site are evidence for intelligent design. We also explain why existing genetic data, viral diversity and past human history suggest that a natural origin of the virus is the most likely scenario. Genetic evidence suggesting otherwise is yet to be presented. (shrink)

States are rapidly modifying law and policy to increase access to the opioid antidote naloxone, and the provision of naloxone rescue kits for use in the event of overdose is becoming increasingly common. As of late 2014 the majority of states had passed laws increasing naloxone access, and nearly as many have modified emergency responder scope of practice protocols to permit Emergency Medical Technicians and law enforcement officers to administer the medication. While the text of these laws is generally similar, (...) their implementation varies among states.This article outlines experiences and lessons learned from two diverse states, Massachusetts and North Carolina. In Massachusetts naloxone access initiatives were well underway before formal legislative action occurred, while in North Carolina the passage of a naloxone access law served as a catalyst for the creation of new programs and facilitated the scale-up of existing ones. In both states legislative action was necessary to permit the prescription and dispensing of naloxone to the friends and family members of people who use opioids, a key legal change. (shrink)

The origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is the subject of many hypotheses. One of them, proposed by Segreto and Deigin, assumes artificial chimeric construction of SARS‐CoV‐2 from a backbone of RaTG13‐like CoV and receptor binding domain (RBD) of a pangolin MP789‐like CoV, followed by serial cell or animal passage. Here we show that this hypothesis relies on incorrect or weak assumptions, and does not agree with the results of comparative genomics analysis. The genetic divergence between SARS‐CoV‐2 (...) and both its proposed ancestors is too high to have accumulated in a lab, given the timeframe of several years. Furthermore, comparative analysis of S‐protein gene sequences suggests that the RBD of SARS‐CoV‐2 probably represents an ancestral non‐recombinant variant. These and other arguments significantly weaken the hypothesis of a laboratory origin for SARS‐CoV‐2, while the hypothesis of a natural origin is consistent with all available genetic and experimental data. (shrink)

Explaining how stereotypes and norms influence role-identities during reflected appraisal processes, we develop a theory about diverse groups of minority men—the “minority masculinity stress theory”—and apply it to Asian American men. We conceptually integrate hegemonic masculinity, stereotypes, and mental health to examine how Asian American men experience masculinity and how their experiences are uniquely stressful. We analyze elicited text from an open-ended questionnaire to explain two experiences of masculinity-related stress: trying to live up to the masculine ideal and enacting work-related (...) role-identities. Regarding the former, we discuss four illustrations—toughness, body image, restrictive emotionality, and heterosexuality—and two involving the latter—achiever and provider. We found that Asian American men receive stereotypical reflected appraisals that contradict potentially positive self-concepts and emphasize achievement beyond typical standards of hegemonic masculinity. Moreover, Asian American men’s role-identities contradict hegemonic masculinity, resulting in reflected appraisals that predispose them toward stress. (shrink)

Perceptual conscious experiences result from non-conscious processes that precede them. We document a new characteristic of the cognitive system: the speed with which visual meaningful stimuli are prioritized to consciousness over competing noise in visual masking paradigms. In ten experiments (N = 399) we find that an individual's non-conscious visual prioritization speed (NVPS) is ubiquitous across a wide variety of stimuli, and generalizes across visual masks, suppression tasks, and time. We also find that variation in NVPS is unique, in that (...) it cannot be explained by variation in general speed, perceptual decision thresholds, short-term visual memory, or three networks of attention (alerting, orienting and executive). Finally, we find that NVPS is correlated with subjective measures of sensitivity, as they are measured by the Highly Sensitive Person scale. We conclude by discussing the implications of variance in NVPS for understanding individual variance in behavior and the neural substrates of consciousness. (shrink)

The modern legal and ethical movement against traditional welfare paternalism in medical decision-making extends to how decisions are made for patients lacking decisional capacity, prioritising surrogates’ judgment about what patients would have decided over even their best interests. In England and Wales, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 follows this trend of prioritising the patient’s prior wishes, values and beliefs but the dominant interpretation in life-sustaining treatment cases does so by in effect calling those values the ‘best interests’ of the patient (...) and focusing nearly exclusively on the ‘subjective’ viewpoint of the patient. In this article, we examine the recent Court of Protection judgment inBarnsley Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v MSP[2020] EWCOP 26, which adhered closely to this approach, to suggest that it could have unexpected negative consequences. These include insufficient information gathering about and attention to patients’ objective medical interests, inadequacy of the evidentiary standard used for the substituted decision-making and, in some cases, even prioritising a surrogate’s current substituted judgment over the potential for an actual judgment by the patient. (shrink)

Contemporary bioethics education has been developed predominately within Euro-American contexts, and now, other global regions are increasingly joining the field, leading to a richer global understanding. Nevertheless, many standard bioethics curriculum materials retain a narrow geographic focus. The purpose of this article is to use local cases from the Asia-Pacific region as examples for exploring questions such as ‘what makes a case or example truly local, and why?’, ‘what topics have we found to be best explained through local cases or (...) examples?’, and ‘how does one identify a relevant local case?’ Furthermore, we consider the global application of local cases to help extend the possible scope of the discussion, opening new avenues for the development of practical bioethics educational materials. We begin with a background description and discussion of why local cases enhance bioethics education, move to an overview of what is currently available and what is not for the region, and then outline a discussion of what it means to be local using example cases drawn from Hong Kong, Australia, Pakistan, and Malaysia. We are not creating a casebook but rather constructing by example a toolbox for designing active and dynamic learning cases using regional diversity as contextualised cases with generalised principles. (shrink)

Traditionally, cognitive, motivational, and volitional determinants have been used to explain and predict health behaviors such as physical activity. Recently, the role of affect in influencing and regulating health behaviors received more attention. Affects as internal cues may automatically activate unconscious processes of behavior regulation. The aim of our study was to examine the association between affect and physical activity in daily life. In addition, we studied the influence of the habit of being physically active on this relationship. An ambulatory (...) assessment study in 89 persons (33.7% male, 25 to 65 years, M = 45.2, SD = 8.1) was conducted. Affect was assessed in the afternoon on 5 weekdays using smartphones. Physical activity was measured continuously objectively using accelerometers and subjectively using smartphones in the evening. Habit strength was assessed at the beginning of the diary period. The outcomes were objectively and subjectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) performed after work. Multilevel regression models were used to analyze the association between affect and after work MVPA. In addition, the cross-level interaction of habit strength and affect on after work MVPA was tested. Positive affect was positively related to objectively measured and self-reported after work MVPA: the greater the positive affect the more time persons subsequently spent on MVPA. An inverse relationship was found for negative affect: the greater the negative affect the less time persons spent on MVPA. The cross-level interaction effect was significant only for objectively measured MVPA. A strong habit seems to strengthen both the positive influence of positive affect and the negative influence of negative affect. The results of this study confirm previous results and indicate that affect plays an important role for the regulation of physical activity behavior in daily life. The results for positive affect were consistent. However, in contrast to previous reports of no or an inverse association, negative affect decreased subsequent MVPA. These inconsistencies may be—in part—explained by the different measurements of affect in our and other studies. Therefore, further research is warranted to gain more insight into the association between affect and physical activity. (shrink)

Most jurisdictions require that a mental capacity assessment be conducted using a functional model whose definition includes several abilities. In England and Wales and in increasing number of countries, the law requires a person be able to understand, to retain, to use or weigh relevant information and to communicate one’s decision. But interpreting and applying broad and vague criteria, such as the ability ‘to use or weigh’ to a diverse range of presentations is challenging. By examining actual court judgements of (...) capacity, we previously developed a descriptive typology of justifications used in the application of the Mental Capacity Act criteria. We here critically optimise this typology by showing how clear definitions—and thus boundaries—between the criteria can be achieved if the ‘understanding’ criterion is used narrowly and the multiple rationales that fall under the ability to ‘use or weigh’ are specifically enumerated in practice. Such a typology-aided practice, in theory, could make functional capacity assessments more transparent, accountable, reliable and valid. It may also help to create targeted supports for decision making by the vulnerable. We also discuss how the typology could evolve legally and scientifically, and how it lays the groundwork for clinical research on the abilities enumerated by the MCA. No data are available. This paper does not report any original data. (shrink)

El presente estudio busca clarificar el papel de la phantasia en la refundacion de la fenomenologia transcendental de Marc Richir (en particular desde Phenomenologie en esquisses, de 2000). A partir del analisis de la phantasia y de la imaginacion ��que toma apoyo en las Lecciones de Husserl de 1904/1905�� el autor pone de manifiesto la relacion de la phantasia tanto con la percepcion como con el lenguaje, al tiempo que trata de elucidar el estatuto temporal de dichos elementos.

La compasión es una actitud que ha sido objeto de ataques, que ha sido catalogada como un egoísmo encubierto o bien como una pose lastimera que poco o nada contribuye para el auxilio debido a las personas en desgracia. Pero, es precisamente el despojo y los daños que las personas sufren los que llevan a pensar cómo es posible «salvar» esas vidas, no permitir que se pierdan y afirmar que la vida vale la pena. En virtud de ello, la compasión (...) o misericordia ha de ser repensada con miras a concederle el lugar adecuado dentro del mundo sanitario. Su significado ético pasa, por tanto, por una elucidación racional –qué es- y los rasgos que la caracterizan –fragilidad, desgracia, reconocimiento, solidaridad-. El símbolo da que pensar, y la reflexión ética, en este caso, se nutre de la parábola del Buen Samaritano. (shrink)

Reorienting the Political examines the reception of two controversial German philosophers, Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss, in the Chinese-speaking world. This volume explores the powerful resonance of both thinkers in Chinese political thought from a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective.

All contemporary frameworks of mental capacity stipulate that we must begin from the presumption that an adult has capacity. This presumption is crucial, as it manifests respect for autonomy and guards against prejudice and paternalism on the part of the evaluator. Given its ubiquity, we might presume that we all understand the presumption’s meaning and application in the same way. Evidence demonstrates that this is not the case and that this has led to harm in vulnerable persons. There is thus (...) strong reason to question our presumptions about the presumption of capacity. We distinguish between two main ways of understanding and applying the presumption of capacity, and advocate for the one that we argue mitigates risk of harm. Our proposed interpretation offers many advantages in that it is consonant with actual practice of capacity evaluations, precludes confused and abusive avoidance of needed evaluations, and preserves the respect for autonomy motivating the presumption in the first place. (shrink)

En el siglo que venimos de cerrar, el problema de la relación entre fe y razón ha encontrado una de sus respuestas mas sugerentes con la reconciliación de sobre naturaleza y naturaleza propuesta por la llamada "Nouvelle Théologie" y llevada a cabo por Karl Rahner y su enfoque "transcendental?antropológico". Sin embargo, esta respuesta no carece de antecedentes en la historia de la Teología y la Filosofía como lo demuestra el interesante caso de Ramón Sibiuda quien, con su Liber creaturarun redactado (...) hacia el 1436, propone precisamente una Antropología Filosófica como acceso privilegiado a la Teología y sus misterios de fe. El presente estudio esclarece las líneas generales de la argumentación de Sibiuda subrayando la actualidad de sus conceptos clave, como lo son la experiencia y el deseo natural hacia Dios. (shrink)

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La existencia de sentimientos de pertenencia y compromiso, evidenciados como mensajes comunicación directa o síncrona, fueron fundamento de relaciones entre docentes y estudiantes en una situación difícil por pandemia; para el entorno de la enseñanza, los estudiantes sintieron la responsabilidad y sobrecarga académica, con poco tiempo de resolución de deberes, altos niveles de esfuerzo y esmero por buenas calificaciones, que fueron afectados por las distracciones generadas por las redes sociales, chats y videojuegos. Los estudiantes del estudio autoevaluaron consecuencias y las (...) soluciones a problemas de emoción por estrés académico, con aspectos positivos al cumplir con un plan de acción y organización y capacidad de comunicación por grupos. Los actores académicos no deben olvidar que se afectaron emociones y actitudes, la planificación para formas de comunicación de actividades y deberes, así como el autocontrol permitieron soluciones. (shrink)

Fregeans follow Frege in accepting informativeness and substitution failure as reliable criteria for the existence of senses as objects of thought. In this paper I show that if we accept this, we must also accept the existence of an infinite hierarchy of senses as objects of thought. This is a bad result since it turns Fregeanism into a doctrine according to which object-related thoughts either have an infinite number of objects as contents or none at all. This shows, against the (...) Fregean, that senses cannot themselves be constituents of thought. Los fregeanos aceptan, siguiendo a Frege, que los criterios de informatividad y falla de sustitución son guías confiables de la existencia de sentidos como objetos del pensamiento. En este artículo muestro que si aceptamos esta tesis también debemos aceptar la existencia de una jerarquía infinita de sentidos como objetos del pensamiento. Esta es una mala consecuencia pues convierte al fregeanismo en una doctrina según la cual los pensamientos dirigidos a objetos o bien tienen un número infinito de objetos como contenido o ninguno. Esto muestra, contra los fregeanos, que los sentidos no pueden ellos mismos ser objeto del pensamiento. (shrink)

Executive function is essential to child development, with associated skills beginning to emerge in the first few years of life and continuing to develop into adolescence and adulthood. The prefrontal cortex, which follows a neurodevelopmental timeline similar to EF, plays an important role in the development of EF. However, limited research has examined prefrontal function in young children due to limitations of currently available neuroimaging techniques such as functional resonance magnetic imaging. The current study developed and applied a multimodal Go/NoGo (...) task to examine the EF component of inhibitory control in children 4–10 years of age. Cortical activity was measured using a non-invasive and child-friendly neuroimaging technique – functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Children’s response accuracy and reaction times were captured during the fNIRS session and compared with responses obtained using the standardized assessments from NIH Toolbox cognition battery. Results showed significant correlations between the behavioral measures during the fNIRS session and the standardized EF assessments, in line with our expectations. Results from fNIRS measures demonstrated a significant, age-independent effect of inhibitory control in the right PFC, and an age-dependent effect in the left orbitofrontal cortex, consistent with results in previous studies using fNIRS and fMRI. Thus, the new task designed for fNIRS was suitable for examining IC in young children, and results showed that fNIRS measures can reveal prefrontal IC function. (shrink)

Traducción y notas de Alexander Fidora y Jordi Pardo Pastor . Nuestra traducción sigue el texto latino de Alexander Fidora y Andreas Niederberger, Von Bagdad nach Toledo ? "Das Buch der Ursachen" und seine Rezeption fin Mittelalter. Mainz, Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 2001, donde se ofrece una nueva edición del texto latino presentado en su día por Adriaan Pattin revisándolo teniendo en cuenta las importantes sugerencias del arabista Richard Taylor . Éstas, a su vez, resultan, en su mayoría. del cotejo (...) del importante manuscrito latino de Aosta, Seminario Maggiore. Ai° D 20.Como las dos recientes traducciones castellanas del Liber de cau sis tan sólo tienen en cuenta el texto de Pattin, y parecen desconocer las propuestas de Taylon hemos creído conveniente publicar esta tercera traducción, señalando los cambios más importantes respecto a la edición de Pattin siempre y cuando éstos afecten a la traducción. Además, hay que advertir que ambas traducciones dividen el texto del Liber en 219 sentencias; sin embargo. esta división es una ficción editora introducida por Celsao Pera en su edición de la Sancti Thomae de Aquino In Librum de causis expositio, Roma. 1955, que no tiene ningún fundamento en los manuscritos. A pesar de que esta división pueda parecer "pedagógica", como afirma Cruz Cruz en su traducción citada, p. 26, n. 29, prescindimos de ella, ya que sugiere que el texto sigue una lógica puramente axiomática. mientras que su argumentación es harto más compleja. Con todo, ambas traducciones siguen siendo muy útiles y de alta calidad. y también han sido consultadas con gran provecho para esta versión.El texto latino conduce a una aparente paradoja, ya que constata que la causa sigue su efecto . Se trata aquí de un problema de la traducción latina de Gerardo de Cremona quien vierte el término árabe waliya por sequitur, en vez de "estar junto" o "cerca de". Lo que el texto original quiere expresar, por consiguiente, es que la causa acompaña su efecto, no que ésta le siga. No hace falta, pues, cambiar el pronombre ipsum por ipsam? como ha hecho Pattin, refiriéndolo así a la primera causa. (shrink)

This paper explores how an institution of higher education in partnership with a local parent-led organization can support authentic and organic Latinx family engagement and advocacy for dual language bilingual, bicultural, biliterate education (DLB3E). We reflect upon how engaging with Spanish-speaking parents helped us reimagine, reinvigorate, and transform local schools and universities by means of new understandings and practices of linguistic and cultural wealth, community assets, and family empowerment. We argue that this form of collaboration can lead to innovative and (...) positive changes in p-16 education. To demonstrate, we share our developing framework for organizing annual parent conferences hosted by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Center for Bilingual Studies in partnership with RGV PUEDE (Rio Grande Valley Parents United for Excellent Dual Education/Padres Unidos para una Educación Dual de Excelencia). Our framework shows how to build and strengthen grassroots parent and community advocacy for DLB3E from pre-kindergarten through university by strengthening partnerships between parents, public schools, university faculty, and nonprofit organizations to organize conferences and other types of public conversations in Spanish. (shrink)

Le problème de l’identité personnelle est une préoccupation essentielle des philosophes modernes depuis que la conscience est mise en scène philosophiquement. Cependant parmi eux il n’y en a pas beaucoup qui considèrent la mémoire comme le fondement de l’identité humaine, bien qu’aujourd’hui, et grâce aux neurosciences, on sache pourtant qu’elle joue un rôle capital. D’une manière générale, les empiristes s’y intéressent davantage que les rationnalistes. Ceux‐ci ayant comme idéal normatif les systèmes mathématiques ne pensent pas qu’elle puisse contribuer à élargir (...) nos connaissances du monde. C’est ce qui explique que le système des idées claires et distinctes chez Descartes, s’établit directement par la conscience présente. De son côté, l’empiriste sceptique Hume, bien qu’il ait souligné l’importance de la mémoire dans notre personnalité, n’a pas pu mettre en pleine lumière sa nature et son fonctionnement. L’esprit considéré comme l’ensemble des perceptions et des idées est loin de constituer l’identité de l’homme normal. On voit dans les théoriesbergsoniennes de la durée et de la mémoire une toute autre perspective qui fonde l’identité personnelle sur l’équilibre mental de la conscience présente et de l’inconscient, c’est‐à‐dire du moi superficiel et du moi profond. (shrink)

El presente artículo aborda un tema relevante dentro del sistema judicial ecuatoriano, esto es la distinción entre el concurso de infracciones y la conexidad conforme lo establecido en el Código Orgánico Integral Penal. Dichas figuras jurídicas tienen finalidades distintas, a saber, el concurso de infracciones determina las reglas para la aplicación de penas, mientras que la conexidad establece las reglas de competencia, debiendo considerar que la finalidad de la conexidad es otorgar operatividad al concurso delictual en sus distintas modalidades. No (...) obstante, en el análisis realizado se logró identificar deficiencias normativas, lo cual incluso fue comparado con el derecho español, siendo este último referente en los temas estudiados, toda vez que la norma penal española ha desarrollado de mejor manera estas instituciones jurídicas. En este contexto, luego del análisis que se realizó dentro del presente artículo, se pone a consideración las deficiencias normativas identificadas y la necesidad imperiosa de establecer reformas legislativas, toda vez que es necesario que el Derecho Procesal ecuatoriano desarrolle instituciones jurídicas que permitan mejorar el sistema judicial, ya que al establecer reglas procesales precisas, permitirá que exista una aplicación justa y equitativa del Derecho Penal, lo cual permitirá garantizar a la sociedad en general el derecho a la seguridad jurídica y fortalecer el Estado de Derecho y justicia. (shrink)