Emergentism and musicology: an alternative perspective to the understanding of dissonance.

In this paper we develop an approach to musicology within the discussion of emergentism. First of all, we claim that some theories of musicology could be insufficient in describing and explaining musical phenomena when emergent properties are not taken into account. Actually, musicology usually considers just syntactical elements, structures and processes and puts only a little emphasis, if any, over perceptual aspects of human hearing. On the other hand, recent research efforts are currently being directed towards an understanding of the emergent properties of auditory perception, especially in fields such as cognitive science. Such research leads to other views concerning old issues in musicology and could create a fruitful approach, filling the gap between musicology and auditory perception

Cancer cells exploit an orphan RNA to drive metastatic progression.

Here we performed a systematic search to identify breast-cancer-specific small noncoding RNAs, which we have collectively termed orphan noncoding RNAs (oncRNAs). We subsequently discovered that one of these oncRNAs, which originates from the 3' end of TERC, acts as a regulator of gene expression and is a robust promoter of breast cancer metastasis. This oncRNA, which we have named T3p, exerts its prometastatic effects by acting as an inhibitor of RISC complex activity and increasing the expression of the prometastatic genes NUPR1 and PANX2. Furthermore, we have shown that oncRNAs are present in cancer-cell-derived extracellular vesicles, raising the possibility that these circulating oncRNAs may also have a role in non-cell autonomous disease pathogenesis. Additionally, these circulating oncRNAs present a novel avenue for cancer fingerprinting using liquid biopsies

Inflammatory Arthritis Prevalence and Health Services Use in the First Nations and non-First Nations Populations of Alberta, Canada

Objective: To estimate prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic disease (PsD), and crystal-related arthritis and health care use for inflammatory arthritis in First Nations and non–First Nations patients in Alberta, Canada. Methods: Population-based cohorts of adults with RA, AS, PsD, and crystal-related arthritis were defined, with First Nations determination by premium payer status, to estimate prevalence rates. Rates of outpatient primary care, specialist visits, and hospitalizations (all-cause, inflammatory-arthritis specific) were estimated. Results: RA affected 3 times as many First Nations residents compared to non–First Nations residents (standardized rate ratio [SRR] 3.2, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.9–3.4). AS and PsD were more prevalent in First Nations (AS 0.6 per 100 residents; SRR 2.7, 95% CI 2.3–3.2 and PsD 0.3 per 100 residents; SRR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3–1.9), whereas crystal-related arthritis was less prevalent (SRR 0.7, 95% CI 0.6–0.7). First Nations patients were more likely to have primary care visits (SRR 1.7, 95% CI 1.6–1.8) and less likely to have specialist visits (SRR 0.6, 95% CI 0.6–0.7) for RA relative to non–First Nations individuals. In PsD and crystal-related arthritis, First Nations people had higher rates of cause-specific hospitalizations. Conclusion: The estimated prevalence of RA, AS, and PsD was higher in the First Nations population, while crystal-related arthritis was less prevalent compared to the non–First Nations population. First Nations people were more likely to see primary care physicians and were less likely to see specialists for inflammatory arthritis care

Southern Ontologies. Reorienting Agendas in Social Ontology

This article addresses ontological negotiations in the Global South through three case studies of community-based research in Brazil and Ghana. We argue that ontological perspectives of Indigenous and other subjugated communities require an ontological pluralism that recognizes the plurality of both representational tools and ways of being in the world. Locating these two readings of ontological pluralism in the politics of the Global South, the article highlights a wider dynamic from ontological paternalism to ontological diversity to ontological decolonization. We conclude by arguing that this dynamic provides important lessons for reorienting agendas in social ontology through Southern Ontologies

Southern Ontologies: Reorienting Agendas in Social Ontology

This article addresses ontological negotiations in the Global South through three case studies of community-based research in Brazil and Ghana. We argue that ontological perspectives of Indigenous people and local communities require an ontological pluralism that recognizes both the plurality of representational tools and of ways of being in the world. Locating these two readings of ontological pluralism in the politics of the Global South, the article highlights a wider dynamic from ontological paternalism to ontological diversity to ontological decolonization. We conclude by arguing that this dynamic provides important lessons for the state for social ontology in academic philosophy and for the design of politically reflexive development interventions

Modeling a Virtual World for the Educational Game Calangos

Ecology plays a central role in biology and deserves special attention in scientific education. Nonetheless, the teaching and learning of ecology face a number of difficulties. In order to tackle these difficulties, electronic games have recently been used to mediate ecology learning. This paper presents an electronic game that fulfills these gaps in order to make the students’ work with ecological concepts more concrete, active, and systematic. The paper presents the computational model of the ecological system included in the game, based on a real ecological case, a sand dune ecosystem located in the semiarid Caatinga biome, namely, the sand dunes of the middle São Francisco River, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It includes various ecological relationships between endemic lizards and the physical environment, preys, predators, cospecifics, and plants. The engine of the game simulates the physical conditions of the ecosystem (dune topography and climate conditions with their circadian and circannual cycles), its biota (plant species and animal species), and ecological relationships (predator-prey encounters, cospecific relationships). We also present results from one classroom study of a teaching sequence structured around Calangos, which showed positive outcomes regarding high school students’ understanding of thermal regulation in ectothermic animals

Sox9-Haploinsufficiency Causes Glucose Intolerance in Mice

The HMG box transcription factor Sox9 plays a critical role in progenitor cell expansion during pancreas organogenesis and is required for proper endocrine cell development in the embryo. Based on in vitro studies it has been suggested that Sox9 controls expression of a network of important developmental regulators, including Tcf2/MODY5, Hnf6, and Foxa2, in pancreatic progenitor cells. Here, we sought to: 1) determine whether Sox9 regulates this transcriptional network in vivo and 2) investigate whether reduced Sox9 gene dosage leads to impaired glucose homeostasis in adult mice. Employing two genetic models of temporally-controlled Sox9 inactivation in pancreatic progenitor cells, we demonstrate that contrary to in vitro findings, Sox9 is not required for Tcf2, Hnf6, or Foxa2 expression in vivo. Moreover, our analysis revealed a novel role for Sox9 in maintaining the expression of Pdx1/MODY4, which is an important transcriptional regulator of beta-cell development. We further show that reduced beta-cell mass in Sox9-haploinsufficient mice leads to glucose intolerance during adulthood. Sox9-haploinsufficient mice displayed 50% reduced beta-cell mass at birth, which recovered partially via a compensatory increase in beta-cell proliferation early postnatally. Endocrine islets from mice with reduced Sox9 gene dosage exhibited normal glucose stimulated insulin secretion. Our findings show Sox9 plays an important role in endocrine development by maintaining Ngn3 and Pdx1 expression. Glucose intolerance in Sox9-haploinsufficient mice suggests that mutations in Sox9 could play a role in diabetes in humans

Global online trade in primates for pets

The trade in primates as pets is a global enterprise and as access to the Internet has increased, so too has the trade of live primates online. While quantifying primate trade in physical markets is relatively straightforward, limited insights have been made into trade via the Internet. Here we followed a three-pronged approach to estimate the prevalence and ease of purchasing primates online in countries with different socioeconomic characteristics. We first conducted a literature review, in which we found that Malaysia, Thailand, the USA, Ukraine, South Africa, and Russia stood out in terms of the number of primate individuals being offered for sale as pets in the online trade. Then, we assessed the perceived ease of purchasing pet primates online in 77 countries, for which we found a positive relationship with the Internet Penetration Rate, total human population and Human Development Index, but not to Gross Domestic Product per capita or corruption levels of the countries. Using these results, we then predicted the levels of online primate trade in countries for which we did not have first-hand data. From this we created a global map of potential prevalence of primate trade online. Finally, we analysed price data of the two primate taxa most consistently offered for sale, marmosets and capuchins. We found that prices increased with the ease of purchasing primates online and the Gross Domestic Product per capita. This overview provides insight into the nature and intricacies of the online primate pet trade and advocates for increased trade regulation and monitoring in both primate range and non-range countries where trade has been substantially reported. © 2023 The Author