Oxygenated derivatives of cholesterol (oxysterols) are widely distributed in nature, being found in the blood and tissues of animals and man as well as in foodstuff. They exhibit many biological activities which are of potential physiological, pathological or pharmacological importance. Many oxysterols have been found to be potent inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis and one or more oxysterols may play a role as the physiologic feedback regulator of cholesterol synthesis. Oxysterols also inhibit cell replication and have cytotoxic properties effects which suggest (...) that these sterols may participate in the regulation of cell proliferation and may be potentially useful as therapeutic agents for cancer. Furthermore, there is considerable evidence that oxysterols may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Although the mechanism of action of oxysterols in all these instances is not well understood, the existence of cytosolic and microsomal proteins which bind oxysterols with high affinity and specificity suggests that this group of compounds may represent a family of intracellular regulatory molecules. (shrink)

It has been maintained that we are quite able to express (1*)–(4*) without the introduction of a dyadic deontic operator, provided only that we supply our standard deontic logic with a stronger conditional than material implication. The lesson learned from Chisholm's paradox has been the eminently convincing, indeed obvious, one: that what we ought to do is not determined by what is the case in some perfect world, but by what is the case in the best world we can ‘get (...) to’ from this world. What we ought to do depends upon how we are circumstanced. (shrink)

In this paper, we explore the literature on cognitive heuristics and biases in light of virtue epistemology, specifically highlighting the two major positions—agent-reliabilism and agent-responsibilism —as they apply to dual systems theories of cognition and the role of motivation in biases. We investigate under which conditions heuristics and biases might be characterized as vicious and conclude that a certain kind of intellectual arrogance can be attributed to an inappropriate reliance on Type 1, or the improper function of Type 2, cognitive (...) processes. By the same token, the proper intervention of Type 2 processes results in the virtuous functioning of our cognitive systems. Moreover, the role of motivation in attenuating cognitive biases and the cultivation of certain epistemic habits points to the tenets of agent-responsibilism.. (shrink)

The income and careers that come with building wind turbines have become a lifeline for many factory towns and farming communities. Generating electricity from the wind puts increasingly cheap power on the grid, saving consumers billions a year. And it is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways to reduce carbon pollution, reducing the threat of climate change. Yet as wind farms have rapidly spread to forty‐one states, their developers must make their case anew with each community that hosts them. (...) Facts matter, but so do empathy, honoring deep connections to neighbors and landscape, and developing mutual respect. Successful wind farm developers listen first for shared values and speak with inclusive language, to communicate with potential opponents across divides of misunderstanding and motivate local residents to adapt to and benefit from change. (shrink)

Actin performs structural as well as motor‐like functions in eukaryotic cells. Orthologues of actin have also been identified in bacteria, where they perform an essential function during cell growth. Bacterial actins are implicated in the maintenance of rod‐shaped cell morphology, and appear to form a cytoskeletal structure, localising as helical filaments underneath the cell membrane. Recently, a plasmid‐borne actin orthologue has been shown to perform a mitotic‐like function during segregation of a plasmid, and chromosomally encoded actin proteins were found to (...) play an important role in chromosome segregation. Based on the findings that actin filaments are dynamic structures in two bacterial species, we propose that actins perform motor functions rather than a purely structural role in bacteria. We suggest that an intracellular motor exists in bacteria that could be derived from an ancestral actin motor that was present in cells early in evolution. BioEssays 26:1209–1216, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:In this paper we examine how ethical values contribute to national economic prosperity. We extend the concept of an ethical wealth of nations first introduced by Donaldson in which he proposed four categories of ethical values—fairer distribution of goods, better government, ingrained social cooperation, and inculcation of economic duties—that can drive economic performance, but only if citizens ascribe “intrinsic value” to them independent of their economic interests. Our analysis draws on institutional economics and sociology research to show that if ethical (...) values are to drive economic performance, they must also be supported by the institutional fabric of the nation. We embed an expanded set of ethical values in a set of democratic, free market and civil society institutions spanning three sectors of society—political, economic and cultural respectively. We conclude by discussing the implications of our institutional framework for moral education. (shrink)

Among the works on ethics in the Aristotelian corpus, there is no serious dispute among scholars that the "Eudemian Ethics "is authentic. The "Eudemian Ethics "is" "increasingly read and used by scholars as a useful support and confirmation and sometimes contrast to the "Nicomachean Ethics." Yet, it remains a largely neglected work in the study of Aristotle's ethics, both among scholars and moral philosophers. Peter L. P. Simpson provides an analytical outline of the entire work together with summaries of (...) each individual section, making the overall structure and detailed argument clear. His translation and explanatory notes include the common books that the "Eudemian" "Ethics" shares with the "Nicomachean." This translation contains renderings of words and phrases, and proposals for emending the text that differ from what other translators and scholars have adopted. This translation is literal, without expansion or paraphrase, and yet also readable. A readable but literal translation is necessary because in the "Eudemian Ethics," more than usual in Aristotle's writings, the logic of the argumentation can turn on the peculiar wording or order. Simpson explains the argumentation where necessary in notes and separate explanatory comments. This book is a fresh, twenty-first-century rendition of the work of one of the most eminent philosophers of all time. (shrink)

Participants of low and high hypnotic susceptibility were tested on a temporal order judgement task, both with and without hypnosis. Judgements were made of the order of presentation of light flashes appearing in first one hemi-field then the other. There were differences in the inter-stimulus intervals required accurately to report the order, depending upon which hemi-field led. This asymmetry was most marked in hypnotically susceptible participants and reversed when they were hypnotised. This implies not only that brain activity changes in (...) hypnosis, but also that there is a difference in brain function between people of low and high hypnotic susceptibility. The latter exhibited a faster-acting left hemisphere in the waking state, but faster right when hypnotised. (shrink)

A polemical and reductionist critical response to Skinner and Pocock has inhibited an appreciation of the true potential of their historiographical discussions for the practice of political theories. An important step in understanding the history of political thought in its duality - as both being about acts of political discourse over time and as itself being political - is to recognize the "traditionary" nature of discursive acts. Following Pocock and Skinner, we should speak not of tradition as objects carried on, (...) but of the nature of that carrying on, that activity of handing down through language. A traditionary act involves subscription to a fairly sophisticated account of the development of a particular form of practices through time and the identification by the actor of his act as part of that development. This subscription allows us to overcome the categorical dichotomies such as history versus philosophy, autonomy of texts versus ideas as expressions of social relations, voluntarism versus determinism, and language as either restrictive or instrumental, which underlie much of the contemporary methodological dispute. (shrink)

The text of Aristotle'sEthica Eudemia is often in need of emendation, especially because of the particular fault in the manuscripts of misreading one letter for another or misdividing letters to form words. Scholars have already done fine work in correcting many of these errors, but more needs to be done. A second problem with the text does not have to do with matters of spelling or grammar, but rather with those of philosophical sense. For, as scholars have noted, theEEis marked (...) by considerable compression of thought, and this compression leads scholars to propose changes where, on further consideration, it can be shown that not change of words but change of comprehension is needed. (shrink)

Aus dem Zusammentreffen der Philosophischen Anthropologie mit der interdisziplinären Rhetorikforschung sind heute zwei neue komplementäre Tochterdisziplinen entstanden. Die eine ist die fundamentalrhetorische Anthropologie, welche den Menschen generell als homo rhetoricus definiert. Die andere klärt als rhetorische Metakritik die Philosophie selbst über ihre eigene, immanente Rhetorizität auf. Der vorliegende Band präsentiert exemplarische Beiträge zu diesem neuen rhetorischen Denken in zwei Teilen. Der erste enthält unter dem Titel „Zur Philosophie der Rhetorik“ die Arbeiten zur fundamentalrhetorischen Anthropologie. Ausgehend von grundlegenden Thesen zur Homo-rhetoricus-Anthropologie (...) behandeln sie Themen wie z.B. Pithanologie, Pathelogie, Polypersonalität, Anthropotechnik, Autoinvenienz oder die Rekonstruktion des Subjektbegriffes durch interne Rhetorik. Der zweite Teil „Zur Rhetorik der Philosophie“ umfasst die Beiträge, welche der rhetorischen Metakritik der Philosophie und ihrer Geschichte zuzurechnen sind. Hier finden sich u.a. Abhandlungen zur Topographie der klassischen Metaphysik und ihren sophistischen und pararhetorischen Gegenspielern sowie metakritische Detailstudien zu Pseudo-Longin, Kant, Hegel, Fichte und Heidegger. (shrink)

This book emphasizes that analysis of broad economic changes treats people abstractly, while a personalist view sees them as human agents who, while needing and generating economic goods, must still be responsive to others and be aware of values and goals beyond temporal well-being. Visit our website for sample chapters!