Language as a disruptive technology: Abstract concepts, embodiment and the flexible mind

A growing body of evidence suggests that cognition is embodied and grounded. Abstract concepts, though, remain a significant theoretical chal- lenge. A number of researchers have proposed that language makes an important contribution to our capacity to acquire and employ concepts, particularly abstract ones. In this essay, I critically examine this suggestion and ultimately defend a version of it. I argue that a successful account of how language augments cognition should emphasize its symbolic properties and incorporate a view of embodiment that recognizes the flexible, multi- modal and task-related nature of action, emotion and perception systems. On this view, language is an ontogenetically disruptive cognitive technology that expands our conceptual reach

April 26, 2018

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Oxidative stress and inflammation as a response to glucose exposure and dialysis

Abstract: The main player of this thesis is glucose, both on a cellular level and with a clinical approach. Too much or wrongly handled glucose contributes to increased inflammation and oxidative stress, which is reinforced by the negative influences of uraemia and dialysis treatment. In addition, trace element status is also affected in dialysis patients. Hyperglycaemia contributes to glucose degradation products (GDP) and advanced glycation end product (AGE), inducing inflammation, oxidative stress and cell death through activation of several pathways. We investigated GDP content in commercially available infusion fluids and compared patients receiving those with a control group, by looking at GDPs and AGE levels, and inflammatory response. We also investigated hyperglycaemia and GDPs impact with or without citrate addition on protein kinase C (PKC) and adhesion molecule expression, cell death and secretion of cytokines. A transwell model was used to analyse neutrophil migration across endothelial cell layer. This thesis also had a clinical approach, looking at inflammation, oxidative stress and AGE formation, in combination with trace elements in diabetic- and non-diabetic dialysis patients. All investigated infusion fluids contained GDPs in varying concentrations, some similar to LC50 values of neutrophils in vitro. Both GDPs and AGE could be found in patients’ blood and urine after infusion. Furthermore, GDPs and hyperglycaemia increased cell death of both neutrophils and endothelial cells. They also increased endothelial expression of PKC, adhesion molecules and cytokines, reduced by the addition of citrate. There was a significant lack of the trace elements selenium and rubidium generally in dialysis patients compared with healthy subjects and a significant correlation between low plasma selenium and high markers of oxidative stress in diabetic dialysis patients. Other trace elements, which can contribute to increased oxidative stress, such as chromium and copper were increased in hemodialysis patients compared with healthy subjects. In conclusion, a therapeutic aspect is necessary, looking at the possibilities of using citrate and taking control over trace element reduction and supplementation. Further work improving dialysis fluids, might be a way of controlling these substances and administrate them where they might have an immediate effect, i.e. on the blood cells and the endothelial cell

Negotiating Theory When Doing Practice: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research on Interventions to Reduce Homophobia

We performed a systematic review of qualitative research on interventions to reduce homophobia. Specifically, we conducted a thematic analysis of participant feedback given in 30 qualitative and mixed-methods studies. Participants often described interventions as “eye-opening.” However, they also criticized many interventions for their mismatch with the social, historical, or institutional context in which they were conducted. Some participants rejected the interventions altogether, describing them as offensive or disgusting. We drew three conclusions. First, participants not only were actively making sense of the interventions but also were often aware of philosophical and political tensions (especially liberal vs. queer approaches). Second, participants sometimes used the perceived inadequacy of the intervention for the local context as an argument to resist change. Finally, tensions in participant feedback (eye-opening vs. disgusting) can be read as evidence that reducing homophobia is “dirty work”: such work is both vital for society and despised by many

Changing Homophobia: A Global Perspective.

The present thesis aims to understand the global decrease of homophobia over the last few decades. In Chapter 1, I summarise previous research on homophobia, especially in the context of Romania and the UK. The next two chapters focus on psychological interventions to reduce homophobia. A systematic review and set of meta-analyses in Chapter 2 found that education and contact with LGB people were effective interventions. The same review found that most research was conducted with American college students, and that some high-quality research performed by postgraduates was left unpublished. In Chapter 3, a systematic qualitative review found that these interventions were often described by participants as ‘eye-opening’, but were sometimes criticised as ‘out of context’. In the following chapter (Chapter 4), I looked at the change in homophobia on a societal level. Reanalysing data from a large scale international survey, I found that the same model could explain homophobia in the US, the UK and Romania, but the decrease of homophobia over a 20-year period remained unexplained. In the next two chapters, I turned from the causes to the consequences of the decrease in homophobia, asking whether the acceptance of LGB people may have negative implications for ethnic prejudice. In Chapter 5, I performed discourse analysis on media reports of a gay pride parade in Romania, finding that LGB people were excluded from constructions of Romanian national identity. In Chapter 6, I proposed a questionnaire and an experimental task to study sexualised nationalism, a set of ideologies that either include or exclude LGB people from national identities. I found that more acceptance of LGB people in Romania and the UK was not linked to exclusion of ethnic minorities. In the conclusion (Chapter 7), I propose that reducing homophobia can be achieved within a plurality of theoretical and practical frameworks

Queering Abstract Concepts. A Grounded Perspective on Gender

Concepts are the building blocks of our cognitive system. Theories of conceptual knowledge have attempted to explain how we acquire master concepts by relying on different assumptions. Among several proposals, theories of Embodied and Grounded Cognition (EGC) submit to the idea that our conceptual system is couched in our bodily states and is influenced by the environment surrounding us (Barsalou, 2008). Chapter 1 reviews and critically discusses the debate on conceptual format as developed in cognitive science. Abstract concepts (ACs) like ethic constitute a major challenge for theories of conceptual knowledge, and for EGC theories. Recently, some EG proposals addressed this criticism, arguing that the category of ACs is multifaced and heterogenous, encompassing exemplars that differ among them with respect of their grounding sources (Borghi et al., 2018). According to the WAT theory (Borghi & Binkofski, 2014), for instance, both abstract and concrete concepts are grounded in our bodily states and linguistic system, to different extents. Specifically, ACs are more influenced by social, cultural and linguistic aspects than concrete concepts, hence activating the mouth effector. In addition, ACs would be more influenced by cultural and linguistic variability. Chapter 2 tackles the issue of ACs from an EG perspective. In an EG approach, gender can be considered as a special kind of AC. In fact, its grounding sources enclose biological and perceptual aspects–related to one’s own sexual embodiment–and social and cultural factors. Whereas previous accounts on gender have stressed one specific aspect over the other (Eagly & Wood, 2013), nowadays the dichotomy opposing sex to gender seems less tenable (Butler, 1990; Hyde et al., 2019). Drawing on the description of ACs offered in Chapter 2, in Chapter 3 I defend a queer perspective on ACs and gender, that escapes traditional dichotomies such as abstract/concrete and sex/gender

The Kilbrandon ethos in practice : the antinomy of care and conduct in the children's hearings system : an investigation into the characteristically unitary nature of the Scottish system of children's hearings

This thesis investigates the characteristically unitary nature of the children's hearings system ("CHS") by reference to legal process and decision-making practice. It argues that it is possible to distil from the system's constitutional document, the Kilbrandon Report, a general philosophy (herein termed the "Kilbrandon ethos") which should, in principle, underlie the current practice of the CHS. Broadly, this ethos rests on the unitary nature of the system, which involves dealing with all children "in trouble" alike, procedurally and philosophically, whether it is their own actions or those of others that bring them to the attention of the system's gatekeepers.;The thesis argues that it follows from the Kilbrandon ethos that all children referred to children's reporters ("reporters"), and by reporters to children's hearings, ought to be dealt with in a similar manner, irrespective of the reason for which they are referred, and thereby explores whether differences in process and decision-making practice apply to different "types" of referral. Bringing together juvenile justice theory, original archival research, doctrinal analysis, classification theory, and the findings of an empirical study on reporter decision-making, the thesis contends that, while the Kilbrandon ethos has proved remarkably resilient, there are, nevertheless, indications that grounds of referral are not entirely interchangeable as access points to the CHS.;In particular, it finds that referrals based on the offence ground and, more broadly, referrals based on grounds relating to the child's conduct, are dealt with differently from referrals based on care and protection grounds. The thesis considers the implications of such differences in approach and explores possible responses to bolster the Kilbrandon ethos in practice.This thesis investigates the characteristically unitary nature of the children's hearings system ("CHS") by reference to legal process and decision-making practice. It argues that it is possible to distil from the system's constitutional document, the Kilbrandon Report, a general philosophy (herein termed the "Kilbrandon ethos") which should, in principle, underlie the current practice of the CHS. Broadly, this ethos rests on the unitary nature of the system, which involves dealing with all children "in trouble" alike, procedurally and philosophically, whether it is their own actions or those of others that bring them to the attention of the system's gatekeepers.;The thesis argues that it follows from the Kilbrandon ethos that all children referred to children's reporters ("reporters"), and by reporters to children's hearings, ought to be dealt with in a similar manner, irrespective of the reason for which they are referred, and thereby explores whether differences in process and decision-making practice apply to different "types" of referral. Bringing together juvenile justice theory, original archival research, doctrinal analysis, classification theory, and the findings of an empirical study on reporter decision-making, the thesis contends that, while the Kilbrandon ethos has proved remarkably resilient, there are, nevertheless, indications that grounds of referral are not entirely interchangeable as access points to the CHS.;In particular, it finds that referrals based on the offence ground and, more broadly, referrals based on grounds relating to the child's conduct, are dealt with differently from referrals based on care and protection grounds. The thesis considers the implications of such differences in approach and explores possible responses to bolster the Kilbrandon ethos in practice

Investigation Of Hypoxia And Mitochondrial Dysfunction In The Central Nervous System Resulting From Focal And Systemic Inflammation

Inflammation is an important feature of several seemingly disparate neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and sepsis-related brain dysfunction. Inadequate oxygenation and mitochondrial dysfunction have been implicated in these and other CNS pathologies in which inflammation is found. Indeed, inflammation can have direct or indirect effects on mitochondrial function, for example, via reactive oxygen/nitrogen species, or through compromised perfusion respectively. However, the study of oxygenation and mitochondrial function in the CNS has been limited as tissues are typically excised for study in vitro, invariably exposing cells and their mitochondria to non-physiological environments. To overcome these limitations, the work described in this thesis involved the study of mitochondrial dysfunction and tissue oxygenation in the CNS during local and systemic inflammation in whole-animal preparations under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. The experiments include development of in vivo optical imaging techniques to assess the redox potential of mitochondria, without the application of dyes, and with an intact blood supply. Using this technique in conjunction with established methods we investigated mitochondrial function and tissue oxygen concentrations in cortical and retinal models of local and systemic inflammation. Our findings reveal that mitochondrial flavoprotein autofluorescence imaged in the cortex of anaesthetised mice can be used to assess an aspect of mitochondrial function (redox potential) in the CNS in vivo. Additionally, we show that certain types of inflammation are associated with tissue hypoxia in the brain and retina, and that this can have profound functional consequences for cerebral mitochondria during systemic inflammation. Hypothermia was also explored as a potential therapeutic strategy to attenuate inflammation-induced functional deficits. Collectively, these findings further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying neurological deficits associated with inflammation, and reveal mitochondrial redox state imbalances in certain inflammatory conditions with potential implications for the treatment of CNS disorders in which inflammation plays a role

Wanderlust: mobility, mapping and being in the world

Identifying with the field of cultural geography this studio based research project questions how the consequence and affect of global mobility has changed the way we see and encounter the world, and how this has necessitated alternative ways of visualising our position within it. This creative project explores mobility specifically associated with leisure travel, examining the phenomenon of mobility and what it means to be part of a world on the move. Through practice led research this project questions how both physical and virtual mobilities inform our ability to know and understand the world and how the experience of mobility could be visualised. Through scrutinising the visual language of traditional mapping, this research project turns to contemporary cartographic practices as a way to find out how the world may be encountered, how it can be represented visually, and how it may be experienced ontologically. At a time when every surface of the world has been discovered, surveyed or mapped in some way, and the globe is encased in the tracks of satellites, global travel and movement, this project looks at ways of making use of this information: of the spaces, journeys and experiences that this era presents. As a corollary to both mobility and mapping, the relationship between knowing and being are central in this research project. Throughout this project maps and mapping offer an enduring structural and conceptual methodology to create works that evoke some of the unknown in a world of the known. Examined through Nicolas Bourriaud’s aptly geographical metaphor of a conceptual archipelago (Bourriaud, 2009) this research project unites a series of separate yet interrelated ideas akin to metaphorical islands, and draws them together to form an archipelago of creative projects. Arising from a curiosity about how the world is encountered and represented, this research project connects cultural geography and cartographic thinking with contemporary art theory and practice, in order to seek new ways of understanding the world. Through this research project I suggest that being in our contemporary world is inextricably linked to wanderlust, mobility and mapping

A Molecular Dynamics study

Prozessive Enzyme bilden eine spezielle Klasse von Enzymen, die vermutlich während vieler katalytischer Durchläufe an ihrem Substrat haften bleiben. Hierdurch gleitet das Substrat am Enzym entlang und die Zeit bis zu einem zufälligen diffusiven Aufeinandertreffen von Enzym und Substrat wird reduziert, was die Effizienz der Enzyme um ein Vielfaches erhöht. Obwohl Informationen über die Struktur vieler prozessiver Enzyme zur Verfügung stehen, ist die Gleitphase, die inhärent dynamisch ist, weitgehend unbekannt. Wir unternehmen erste Schritte, um den Gleitprozess zu verstehen, indem wir einen Prototyp für ein Prozessives Enzym untersuchen, nämlich Streptococcus Pneumoniae Hyaluronate lyase, ein bakterielles Enzym, das das Polysaccharidsubstrat Hyaluronsäure abbaut. Wir haben den Zusammenhang zwischen der Flexibilität des Enzyms, wie sie in Essential Dynamics Molekulardynamik Simulationen beobachtet wurde, mit Enzym-Substrat Interaktionen untersucht, indem wir etliche freie Simulationen und erzwungene Molekulardynamiksimulationen angewandt haben. Auf diese Art haben wir eine Kopplung von Domänenbewegungen des Enzyms mit der Prozessivität oder der Gleitphase des Substrates aufgezeigt. Bei dem vermuteten Mechanismus der Substrattranslokation haben wir eine Energiebarriere entlang der Prozessionsrichtung beobachtet und es ist zu vermuten, dass diese sich aus der Reorientierung des Zuckers innerhalb der Proteinspalte ergibt. Diese Sichtweise wurde unterstützt durch Force Probe Molekulardynamiksimulationen und Umbrella Sampling Simulationen, die angewandt wurden, um vorläufige freie Energie Profile zu erhalten, die dem Mechanismus zu Grunde liegen. Die beobachtete freie Energie Barriere ist niedrig genug, um leicht durch thermische Fluktuationen überwunden zu werden, so dass essentielle langsame kollektive Reorganisationen der Domains als wahrscheinliche Raten bestimmende Faktoren für den prozessiven Zyklus in Frage kommen. Experimentelle Bestätigung zusammen mit weiteren rechnergestützten Studien wird von großem Nutzen für das Verständnis dieses komplexen Mechanismus sein