mRNA synthesis in all organisms is performed by RNA polymerases, which work as nanomachines on DNA templates. The rate at which their product is made is an important parameter in gene expression. Transcription rate encompasses two related, yet different, concepts: the nascent transcription rate, which measures the in situ mRNA production by RNA polymerase, and the rate of synthesis of mature mRNA, which measures the contribution of transcription to the mRNA concentration. Both parameters are useful for molecular biologists, but they (...) are not interchangeable and they are expressed in different units. It is important to distinguish when and where each one should be used. We propose that for functional genomics the use of nascent transcription rates should be restricted to the evaluation of the transcriptional process itself, whereas mature mRNA synthesis rates should be employed to address the transcriptional input to mRNA concentration balance leading to variation of gene expression. (shrink)

Utilising science and technology to maximize human performance is often an essential feature of military activity. This can often be focused on mission success rather than just the welfare of the individuals involved. This tension has the potential to threaten the autonomy of soldiers and military physicians around the taking or administering of enhancement neurotechnologies (e.g., pills, neural implants, and neuroprostheses). The Hybrid Framework was proposed by academic researchers working in the U.S. context and comprises “rules” for military neuroenhancement (e.g., (...) ensuring transparency and maintaining dignity of the warfighter). Integrating traditional bioethical perspectives with the unique requirements of the military environment, it has been referenced by military/government agencies tasked with writing official ethical frameworks. Our two-part investigation explored the ethical dimensions of military neuroenhancements with military officers – those most likely to be making decisions in this area in the future. In three workshops, structured around the Hybrid Framework, we explored what they thought about the ethical issues of enhancement neurotechnologies. From these findings, we conducted a survey (N = 332) to probe the extent of rule endorsement. Results show high levels of endorsement for a warfighter’s decision-making autonomy, but lower support for the view that enhanced warfighters would pose a danger to society after service. By examining the endorsement of concrete decision-making guidelines, we provide an overview of how military officers might, in practice, resolve tensions between competing values or higher-level principles. Our results suggest that the military context demands a recontextualisation of the relationship between military and civilian ethics. (shrink)

In the property listing task (PLT), participants are asked to list properties for a concept (e.g., for the concept dog, “barks,” and “is a pet” may be produced). In conceptual property norming (CPNs) studies, participants are asked to list properties for large sets of concepts. Here, we use a mathematical model of the property listing process to explore two longstanding issues: characterizing the difference between concrete and abstract concepts, and characterizing semantic knowledge in the blind versus sighted population. When we (...) apply our mathematical model to a large CPN reporting properties listed by sighted and blind participants, the model uncovers significant differences between concrete and abstract concepts. Though we also find that blind individuals show many of the same processing differences between abstract and concrete concepts found in sighted individuals, our model shows that those differences are noticeably less pronounced than in sighted individuals. We discuss our results vis‐a‐vis theories attempting to characterize abstract concepts. (shrink)

Psychological flexibility is a key concept of acceptation and commitment therapy. This factor has been linked with psychological wellbeing and associated factors, such as quality of life, in cancer patients. These and other positive results of acceptation and commitment therapy in cancer patients found in previous research could be enhanced by using mhealth tools. A three-arm randomized superiority clinical trial, with a pre-post-follow-up repeated measures intergroup design with a 1:1:1 allocation ratio is proposed. A hundred and twenty cancer patients will (...) be randomly assigned to one of the following interventions: face-to-face ACT + mobile application, face-to-face ACT, and Waitlist control group. The primary expected outcome is to observe significant improvements in psychological flexibility acceptance and action questionnaire- II in the face-to-face ACT + app group, after comparing baseline and post-treatment scores, and the scores will remain stable in the two assessment points, 3 and 6 months after the intervention. Secondary expected outcomes are significant increasing scores in quality of life and post-traumatic-growth, and significant decreasing scores in anxiety and depression, insomnia and fatigue at the same assessment points. Also, it is expected that the scores of this group will be higher than the scores of the face-to-face ACT group and the waitlist control group. This study aims to assess the efficacy of a combined intervention for psychological flexibility and associated symptoms in cancer patients. The results of this protocol may help to consider the use of acceptation and commitment therapy and mhealth applications in cancer settings as a valid therapeutic choice.Clinical Trial Registration[www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05126823]. (shrink)

This paper defends and develops the structuring account of conscious attention: attention is the conscious mental process of structuring one’s stream of consciousness so that some parts of it are more central than others. In the first part of the paper, I motivate the structuring account. Drawing on a variety of resources I argue that the phenomenology of attention cannot be fully captured in terms of how the world appears to the subject, as well as against an atomistic conception of (...) attention. In the second part of the paper, I show how the structuring account can be made precise: attention causes and causally sustains phenomenal relations to hold between the parts of the stream of consciousness; most importantly the relation of one part being peripheral to another. I end by pointing out consequences for both the scientific study of attention as well as for several areas of central philosophical interest. (shrink)

How would it be assessed from an ethical point of view if human wage work were replaced by artificially intelligent systems (AI) in the course of an automation process? An answer to this question has been discussed above all under the aspects of individual well-being and social justice. Although these perspectives are important, in this article, we approach the question from a different perspective: that of leading a meaningful life, as understood in analytical ethics on the basis of the so-called (...) meaning-in-life debate. Our thesis here is that a life without wage work loses specific sources of meaning, but can still be sufficiently meaningful in certain other ways. Our starting point is John Danaher’s claim that ubiquitous automation inevitably leads to an achievement gap. Although we share this diagnosis, we reject his provocative solution according to which game-like virtual realities could be an adequate substitute source of meaning. Subsequently, we outline our own systematic alternative which we regard as a decidedly humanistic perspective. It focuses both on different kinds of social work and on rather passive forms of being related to meaningful contents. Finally, we go into the limits and unresolved points of our argumentation as part of an outlook, but we also try to defend its fundamental persuasiveness against a potential objection. (shrink)

This book argues that we can only develop a proper grasp of Kant s practical philosophy if we appreciate the central role played in it by the notion of the interests of reason. While it is generally acknowledged that Kant does not regard reason as a purely instrumental faculty, this book is the first to show how his notion of reason as guided by its own interests offers the key to some of the most puzzling aspects of his practical philosophy.".

Sebastian Luft presents and defends the philosophy of culture championed by the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism. Following a historical trajectory from Hermann Cohen to Paul Natorp and through to Ernst Cassirer, this book makes a systematic case for the viability and attractiveness of a philosophical culture in a transcendental vein, in the manner in which the Marburgers intended to broaden Kant's approach.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's 'Philosophy of Nature' has often been accused of promoting a view of nature fundamentally at odds with the modern scientific understanding of nature. I show this accusation to be false by pointing to two aspects of Hegel's treatment of nature: its rejection of the 'a priori/a posteriori' distinction, and its connection to Hegel's conception of autonomy as freedom from givenness. I give a reading of Hegel's treatment of the laws of motion along these lines, and I (...) close with some points connecting this reading of Hegel to contemporary philosophy (specifically John McDowell and Catherine Malabou). (shrink)

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct with both positive and negative aspects. Recently, the concept of appearance-oriented perfectionism has been introduced, which is associated with body image dissatisfaction and weight and shape control behaviors. The Physical Appearance Perfectionism Scale is a 12-item two-factor instrument developed to assess this new dimension of perfectionism. The aim of the study is to validate the Spanish version of PAPS among a representative sample of 850 male university students in Spain. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial structure, internal (...) consistency, convergent and concurrent validity, and associated predictor variables analyses have been carried out. Results showed that the Spanish version of the PAPS maintains the original factor structure with all items and proves to be a reliable instrument. Physical appearance-oriented perfectionism is associated with general perfectionism, higher body dissatisfaction, Eating Disorders and Muscle Dysmorphia symptomatology, and compulsive exercise, particularly in the Worry about Imperfection subscale. These variables also act as predictors of physical appearance perfectionism. The use of the PAPS-S and the analysis of its subscales is recommended in the context of body image-related pathologies such as Eating Disorders and Muscle Dysmorphia. (shrink)

The sheer multitude of criteria of empirical significance has been taken as evidence that the pre-analytic notion being explicated is too vague to be useful. I show instead that a significant number of these criteria—by Ayer, Popper, Przełęcki, Suppes, and David Lewis, among others—not only form a coherent whole, but also connect directly to the theory of definition, the notion of empirical content as explicated by Ramsey sentences, and the theory of measurement; two criteria by Carnap and Sober are trivial, (...) but can be saved and connected to the other criteria by slight modifications. A corollary is that the ordinary language defense of Lewis, the conceptual arguments by Ayer and Popper, the theoretical considerations by Przełęcki, and the practical considerations by Suppes all apply to the same criterion or closely related criteria. Furthermore, the equivalence of some criteria allows for their individual justifications to be taken cumulatively and, together with the entailment relations between nonequivalent criteria, suggest criteria for general auxiliary assumptions, comparative criteria, and more liberal conceptions of observation. (shrink)

This article looks into mining in central Germany in the late eighteenth century as one area of highly charged exchange between (specific manifestations of early modern) science and the (early modern) state. It describes bureaucratic knowledge as socially distributed cognition by following the steps of a high-ranking official that led him to discover a rich silver ore deposit. Although this involved hybridization of practical/artisanal and theoretical/scientific knowledge, and knowers, the focus of this article is on purification or boundary work that (...) took place when actors in and around the mines consciously contributed to different circuits of knowledge production. For the sake of analysis, the article suggests a way of opposing bureaucratic versus scientific knowledge production, even when the sites, actors involved in, and practices of that knowledge production were the same or similar. Whereas the science of the time invoked consensus among equals to conflate competing knowledge claims, bureaucracies did so by applying a hierarchy among ranked individuals. (shrink)

Although Bohr’s Correspondence Principle (CP) played a central role in the first days of quantum mechanics, its original version seems to have no present-day relevance. The purpose of this article is to show that the CP, with no need of being interpreted in terms of the quantum-to-classical limit, still plays a relevant role in the understanding of the relationships between the classical and the quantum domains. In particular, it will be argued that a generic version of the CP is very (...) helpful in elucidating the physical meaning of the phenomenon of quantum decoherence. (shrink)

In her foreword to Science Next, Elizabeth Edwards wrote of science as a tool for social progress: "Innovation is not simply the abstract victory of knowledge [or] the research that gave me years to live; the next science can advance human flourishing and serve the common good. That's the kind of world I want to leave for my children, and for yours." With these words, she joined a tradition that goes back to America's founders, who saw America itself as a (...) "great experiment." Yet while no one can deny that science undergirds the American Dream, it has long been fertile terrain for the "culture wars." Along with arguing the pros and cons of abortion and healthcare, policymakers must now grapple with advancements that raise questions about what it means to be human: we've decoded the genome, but should we modify it to enhance certain "desirable" traits? If we can, should we prolong life at any cost? Will we soon be counting robots, cyborgs, and chimeras among our friends and family?The first book to unpack our love/hate relationship with science from our country's origins to today, The Body Politic is essential reading for science buffs and concerned citizens alike.Jonathan D. Moreno is editor of the Center for American Progress' online magazine Science Progress and professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Author and editor of many seminal books and articles on science and science policy, he divides his time between Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, DC. (shrink)

Nietzsches Ausnahmestatus als Philosoph gründet nicht zuletzt in seinem künstlerischen Verhältnis zur Sprache. Der Grenzen sprengende Denker erweist sich zugleich als ein Grenzen sprengender Sprachartist, der den traditionellen Unterschied zwischen Philosophie und Dichtung zum Verschwimmen bringt. Während die Forschung meist den Hauptakzent auf den Denker Nietzsche legt, widmet sich der vorliegende Band dem Dichter Nietzsche. Untersucht wird ein großes, von der Forschung bislang erst ansatzweise erschlossenes Korpus von Gedichten und Gedichtfragmenten. Betrachtet werden darüber hinaus auch weitere literarische Ausdrucksformen Nietzsches sowie (...) ausgewählte Stationen seiner Rezeption als Dichter. (shrink)

El objetivo de las presentes páginas consiste en analizar el concepto de libertad en las Disertaciones de Epicteto, centrándonos sobre la posibilidad de la libertad y su articulación con el concepto de proaíresis. Demostraremos que la libertad no puede ser comprendida en la obra de Epicteto simplemente como un proceso negativo de liberación respecto de determinaciones (externas e internas), sino que exige un momento complementario de sustitución de las determinaciones erróneas por determinaciones racionales/virtuosas. Tal conclusión exigirá precisar que la proaíresis (...) no es en absoluto una facultad naturalmente indeterminada y libre, sino que su libertad opera como un horizonte regulativo al que sólo se puede acceder mediante el correcto cuidado (epiméleia) del alma. (shrink)

The non-invasive stimulation techniques are already recognized as technology that allows neuroenhancement, specifically the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation can be applied following potentiation protocols in order to enhance both cognitive and motor systems. Hand in hand with this capacity arises the ethical problem of its application. The objective of this contribution is to describe and discuss what ethical aspects have been established in relation to this current phenomenon. Thus, we will first describe the mechanisms and results of non-invasive technology in relation (...) to neuroenhancement, focusing on TMS enhancing protocols. Next, we will make a brief historical review of the ethical aspects established around the application of TMS and its ability to result in neuroenhancement. Finally, we will discuss the ethical aspects that have been described and new debates that arise from the previous ones, concluding in an expanded vision of addressing the discussion. (shrink)

El mito platónico de Prometeo, con el robo del fuego a los dioses, simboliza el despegue del más apasionante reto de la Humanidad, la aventura del conocimiento. Dédalo con sus ingenios persiguió en vano la estela; y el rapto de Europa por Zeus, no en su vertiente ortodoxa, sino tal como lo representa Bayros, clausura un periplo en pos del bienestar que hoy se muestra tan esperanzador como amenazante. Cuando estamos a punto de realizar el imperativo de Francis Bacon dominando (...) el mundo natural, éste se resiste y rebela dejando al descubierto la fragilidad de la criatura humana. Piqueras como contrapunto esporádico es un testigo del pasado, un aldabonazo en la conciencia. El imperativo tecnológico resume este momento de inflexión en el que nos hallamos: un punto ¿de no retorno?, ante el que la conciencia moral zozobra y que puede marcar el sino de la humanidad doliente. Hasta aquí nos ha traído el apogeo de lo racional, hasta la crisis que todo lo impregna. Si esto es un cuento de Calleja, no acertamos a vislumbrar la moraleja. (shrink)

"En los últimos ocho años, hemos pasado de celebrar la posibilidad de una participación de la gente común en la política a casi dimitir de ella en favor de una visión anacrónicamente tecnócrata. ¿Cómo salir de la crisis de la democracia? Necesitamos distancia histórica para comprender que existen otras maneras de plantear el gobierno del pueblo. Necesitamos, también, claridad acerca de cuál es el mecanismo de la democracia que queremos poner en práctica. Sin esa claridad nos entregamos en brazos del (...) fetichismo, tomamos como evidentes e incuestionables las divisiones políticas."_ Editorial. (shrink)

This article studies how people leave eating disorders. The article is based on a study of how the labor market influences eating disorders. We present conflicts in which workers are involved. Finally, we propose policies to combat lines, in the labor market against the disease.

El artículo constituye un acercamiento a las razones que sustentan la necesidad de elevar la calidad de la orientación a las familias de niños en la primera infancia y su objetivo consistió en capacitar al personal de la salud para desarrollar la orientación familiar en función de la prevención de desviaciones en el desarrollo en esta etapa. En él se aborda el rol que tiene la familia en la formación de los niños y la incidencia de los médicos y enfermeras (...) en su orientación; se encuentran reflexiones y comentarios sobre cómo elevar la calidad de la orientación para que la familia pueda desarrollar, en las condiciones de convivencia familiar, la prevención de desviaciones en el desarrollo mediante la realización de un proceso educativo de calidad. The article is an approach to the reasons that support the need to improve the quality of the guidance given to families of early childhood children and its objective consisted on training health staff to develop family guidance according to the prevention of deviations in development during this stage. It deals with the role family plays in children's education and the impact of doctors and nurses on its guidance. Thoughts and comments on how to improve the quality of guidance can also be found so that the family can develop, on family living conditions, the prevention of deviations in development through a quality educational process. (shrink)

El análisis del registro fósil proporciona información sobre la historia evolutiva del aparato volador aviano y el origen y desarrollo del vuelo moderno. Existen dos hipótesis alternativas para explicar las complejas presiones de selección que configuraron la aparición del vuelo. La propuesta del corredor («desde el suelo hacia arriba») es la que mejor se ajusta a la evidencia disponible. El ave primitiva Archaeopteryx produciría, probablemente, algún tipo de vuelo batido, aunque su capacidad de maniobra, despegue y aterrizaje sería limitada. El (...) vuelo activo moderno comenzó, durante el Cretácico inferior, con las aves ornitotoraces basales, como Iberomesornis. No obstante, esta ave primitiva, cuya capacidad de vuelo estaba claramente incrementada con respecto a la condición ancestral presente en Archaeopteryx, tampoco parece tener las perfectas habilidades voladoras de las aves modernas. (shrink)

Resenha: MELO, Amarildo José de. Jansenismo no Brasil : traços de uma Moral rigorista. Santuário em Aparecida/SP. 2014, 343p.

John Rawls’ main purpose in The Law of Peoples is to extend his social contract theory to the peoples’ society, establishing the general principles that should be accepted by liberal and non-liberal societies, regulating the relationships between peoples. This paper pretends to analyze and demonstrate that Rawls’ law of peoples is considered to be an ethnocentrically theory, and therefore, difficult as a regular proposal for today’s world.

El libro aborda el problema del controvertido catolicismo de Descartes, en debate tanto con toda esa serie de trabajos recientes que se le han dedicado en los Estados Unidos y en Europa, como con las reacciones hispanoamericanas a algunos trabajos previos del autor.