NCP activates chloroplast transcription by controlling phytochrome-dependent dual nuclear and plastidial switches.

Phytochromes initiate chloroplast biogenesis by activating genes encoding the photosynthetic apparatus, including photosynthesis-associated plastid-encoded genes (PhAPGs). PhAPGs are transcribed by a bacterial-type RNA polymerase (PEP), but how phytochromes in the nucleus activate chloroplast gene expression remains enigmatic. We report here a forward genetic screen in Arabidopsis that identified NUCLEAR CONTROL OF PEP ACTIVITY (NCP) as a necessary component of phytochrome signaling for PhAPG activation. NCP is dual-targeted to plastids and the nucleus. While nuclear NCP mediates the degradation of two repressors of chloroplast biogenesis, PIF1 and PIF3, NCP in plastids promotes the assembly of the PEP complex for PhAPG transcription. NCP and its paralog RCB are non-catalytic thioredoxin-like proteins that diverged in seed plants to adopt nonredundant functions in phytochrome signaling. These results support a model in which phytochromes control PhAPG expression through light-dependent double nuclear and plastidial switches that are linked by evolutionarily conserved and dual-localized regulatory proteins

Overcoming the Newtonian Paradigm: The Unfinished Project of Theoretical Biology from a Schellingian Perspective

Defending Robert Rosen’s claim that in every confrontation between physics and biology it is physics that has always had to give ground, it is shown that many of the most important advances in mathematics and physics over the last two centuries have followed from Schelling’s demand for a new physics that could make the emergence of life intelligible. Consequently, while reductionism prevails in biology, many biophysicists are resolutely anti-reductionist. This history is used to identify and defend a fragmented but progressive tradition of anti-reductionist biomathematics. It is shown that the mathematicoephysico echemical morphology research program, the biosemiotics movement, and the relational biology of Rosen, although they have developed independently of each other, are built on and advance this antireductionist tradition of thought. It is suggested that understanding this history and its relationship to the broader history of post-Newtonian science could provide guidance for and justify both the integration of these strands and radically new work in post-reductionist biomathematics

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE JURIST AND ECONOMIST GHEORGHE N. LEON IN THE EVOLUTION OF FINANCIAL SCIENCE

The economical-financial problems have always constituted a challenge far all the decisional factors at the state level and not only, thus the financial sciences - which also aim to regulate the relationships to create, assign and use the financial funds of the state and of the public institutions, destined to satisfy the social-economical needs of the society - recorded a great doctrinal interest. Thus, a series of jurists and economists had understand the necessity and opportunity of knowledge in the domain of financial science, of the financial law, taking into consideration the fact that the difficulties which they have met at those times obliged them to take the responsibility to make every simple citizen and every person with political or administrative responsibility by the state understand the problems of public administration. In approaching the given subject I have chosen to use some of the methods of scientific research, respectively: the historical method (financial science being presented succinct through the process of its evolution along the years), interpretation methods and a combination of quality and quantity approach, namely the method of analyzing archive documents and the studies of professor Gheorghe N. Leon. In these contexts have asserted and developed himself in the university and political environment, Gheorghe N. Leon, having a rich activity of intellectual creation, approaching in his works the complex aspects of the science of financial law. Thus, starting with the rules and principles of this domain, Gheorghe N. Leon had realized a veritable incursion in the history of finances and in the theory of taxation, public and budgetary credit. Analyzing a part of his scientific works, we can affirm that a personality with such a complex structure, like Gheorghe N. Leon is hard to define, but surely, through the prism of his works and through his long-lasting and rich scientific activity, his name can be mentioned among the personalities of the academic education in the domain of financial science. At the same time we can affirm that in this actual period, when public finances represent an essential component of social-economical life of any nation, the scientific process of the most economists, the process of approaching notions and concepts specific to this domain was and remains fully justified.financial science, economical-financial politics, inter-war period, legislation, financial problematic

Differentiation with stratification: a principle of theoretical physics in the tradition of the memory art

The Art of Memory started with Aristotle's questions on memory. During its long evolution, it had important contributions from alchemist, was transformed by Ramon Llull and apparently ended with Giordano Bruno, who was considered the best known representative of this art. This tradition did not disappear, but lives in the formulations of our modern scientific theories. From its initial form as a method of keeping information via associations, it became a principle of classification and structuring of knowledge. This principle, which we here name {\it differentiation with stratification}, is a structural design behind classical mechanics. Integrating two different traditions of science in one structure, this physical theory became the modern paradigm of science. In this paper, we show that this principle can also be formulated as a set of questions. This is done via an analysis of theories, based on the epistemology of observational realism. A combination of Rudolph Carnap's concept of theory as a system of observational and theoretical languages, with a criterion for separating observational languages, based on analytical psychology, shapes this epistemology. The `nuclear' role of the observational laws and the differentiations from these nucleus, reproducing the general cases of phenomena, reveals the memory art's heritage in the theories. Here in this paper we argue that this design is also present in special relativity and in quantum mechanics.Comment: 6 pages, no figures; "Quantum theory from Problems to Advances", June 9-12, 2014, Linnaeus University, Vaxjo, Swede

The Precautionary Principle (with Application to the Genetic Modification of Organisms)

We present a non-naive version of the Precautionary (PP) that allows us to avoid paranoia and paralysis by confining precaution to specific domains and problems. PP is intended to deal with uncertainty and risk in cases where the absence of evidence and the incompleteness of scientific knowledge carries profound implications and in the presence of risks of "black swans", unforeseen and unforeseable events of extreme consequence. We formalize PP, placing it within the statistical and probabilistic structure of ruin problems, in which a system is at risk of total failure, and in place of risk we use a formal fragility based approach. We make a central distinction between 1) thin and fat tails, 2) Local and systemic risks and place PP in the joint Fat Tails and systemic cases. We discuss the implications for GMOs (compared to Nuclear energy) and show that GMOs represent a public risk of global harm (while harm from nuclear energy is comparatively limited and better characterized). PP should be used to prescribe severe limits on GMOs

Logical openness in Cognitive Models

It is here proposed an analysis of symbolic and sub-symbolic models for studying cognitive processes, centered on emergence and logical openness notions. The Theory of logical openness connects the Physics of system/environment relationships to the system informational structure. In this theory, cognitive models can be ordered according to a hierarchy of complexity depending on their logical openness degree, and their descriptive limits are correlated to Gödel-Turing Theorems on formal systems. The symbolic models with low logical openness describe cognition by means of semantics which fix the system/environment relationship (cognition in vitro), while the sub-symbolic ones with high logical openness tends to seize its evolutive dynamics (cognition in vivo). An observer is defined as a system with high logical openness. In conclusion, the characteristic processes of intrinsic emergence typical of “bio-logic” - emerging of new codes-require an alternative model to Turing-computation, the natural or bio-morphic computation, whose essential features we are going here to outline

Proceedings of the ECCS 2005 satellite workshop: embracing complexity in design - Paris 17 November 2005

Embracing complexity in design is one of the critical issues and challenges of the 21st century. As the realization grows that design activities and artefacts display properties associated with complex adaptive systems, so grows the need to use complexity concepts and methods to understand these properties and inform the design of better artifacts. It is a great challenge because complexity science represents an epistemological and methodological swift that promises a holistic approach in the understanding and operational support of design. But design is also a major contributor in complexity research. Design science is concerned with problems that are fundamental in the sciences in general and complexity sciences in particular. For instance, design has been perceived and studied as a ubiquitous activity inherent in every human activity, as the art of generating hypotheses, as a type of experiment, or as a creative co-evolutionary process. Design science and its established approaches and practices can be a great source for advancement and innovation in complexity science. These proceedings are the result of a workshop organized as part of the activities of a UK government AHRB/EPSRC funded research cluster called Embracing Complexity in Design (www.complexityanddesign.net) and the European Conference in Complex Systems (complexsystems.lri.fr). Embracing complexity in design is one of the critical issues and challenges of the 21st century. As the realization grows that design activities and artefacts display properties associated with complex adaptive systems, so grows the need to use complexity concepts and methods to understand these properties and inform the design of better artifacts. It is a great challenge because complexity science represents an epistemological and methodological swift that promises a holistic approach in the understanding and operational support of design. But design is also a major contributor in complexity research. Design science is concerned with problems that are fundamental in the sciences in general and complexity sciences in particular. For instance, design has been perceived and studied as a ubiquitous activity inherent in every human activity, as the art of generating hypotheses, as a type of experiment, or as a creative co-evolutionary process. Design science and its established approaches and practices can be a great source for advancement and innovation in complexity science. These proceedings are the result of a workshop organized as part of the activities of a UK government AHRB/EPSRC funded research cluster called Embracing Complexity in Design (www.complexityanddesign.net) and the European Conference in Complex Systems (complexsystems.lri.fr)