Eco-nomologia. Panpsichismo, ontologia dei poteri, materialicismo

This paper explores power ontology as an alternative to the traditional passivist view that has justified some human attitudes toward the environment. Once we see powers as a part of nature and every being as endowed with peculiar powers, it becomes possible to see them as normative indications prescribing how to regulate our relationship with the rest of the world. The more consistent instance of power metaphysics is probably offered by Whitehead; however, the legacy of his philosophy of the organism is more often associated with the rebirth of panpsychism. Even if as an ecological strategy panpsychism has the merit to encourage a more charitable attitude toward non-humans, it presents some flaws that make the pluralism of power ontology more desirable, as it considers not only thought but every kind of power as a claimant to value. Finally, a particular kind of power ontology named “materialicism” will be sketched: a study of the powers immanent to materials. Materialicism help us to understand how human projects depend abundantly on the so far neglected powers of matter and how such powers ask for a consideration that can no longer be negated them after the ongoing ecological crisis. The powers of materials express themselves as nomoi (to borrow the concept from Deleuze and Guattari), which consist in what a legislator aware of the active nature of the world should take into consideration for a policy- making suitable to the future of the planet.This paper explores power ontology as an alternative to the traditional passivist view that has justified some human attitudes toward the environment. Once we see powers as a part of nature and every being as endowed with peculiar powers, it becomes possible to see them as normative indications prescribing how to regulate our relationship with the rest of the world. The more consistent instance of power metaphysics is probably offered by Whitehead; however, the legacy of his philosophy of the organism is more often associated with the rebirth of panpsychism. Even if as an ecological strategy panpsychism has the merit to encourage a more charitable attitude toward non-humans, it presents some flaws that make the pluralism of power ontology more desirable, as it considers not only thought but every kind of power as a claimant to value. Finally, a particular kind of power ontology named “materialicism” will be sketched: a study of the powers immanent to materials. Materialicism help us to understand how human projects depend abundantly on the so far neglected powers of matter and how such powers ask for a consideration that can no longer be negated them after the ongoing ecological crisis. The powers of materials express themselves as nomoi (to borrow the concept from Deleuze and Guattari), which consist in what a legislator aware of the active nature of the world should take into consideration for a policy- making suitable to the future of the planet.This paper explores power ontology as an alternative to the traditional passivist view that has justified some human attitudes toward the environment. Once we see powers as a part of nature and every being as endowed with peculiar powers, it becomes possible to see them as normative indications prescribing how to regulate our relationship with the rest of the world. The more consistent instance of power metaphysics is probably offered by Whitehead; however, the legacy of his philosophy of the organism is more often associated with the rebirth of panpsychism. Even if as an ecological strategy panpsychism has the merit to encourage a more charitable attitude toward non-humans, it presents some flaws that make the pluralism of power ontology more desirable, as it considers not only thought but every kind of power as a claimant to value. Finally, a particular kind of power ontology named “materialicism” will be sketched: a study of the powers immanent to materials. Materialicism help us to understand how human projects depend abundantly on the so far neglected powers of matter and how such powers ask for a consideration that can no longer be negated them after the ongoing ecological crisis. The powers of materials express themselves as nomoi (to borrow the concept from Deleuze and Guattari), which consist in what a legislator aware of the active nature of the world should take into consideration for a policy- making suitable to the future of the planet

Giurisprudenza speculativa: Whitehead e l’immagine della legge

This paper explores Whitehead’s concept of law as an immanent order, arguing that it can be successfully used to cover the whole semantic field denoted as ‘law’, and especially law in its juridical sense. After showing the features that make it more plausible and more desirable than the opposing view of law as a transcendent imposition, law will be defined as the expression of the modes of existence of individuals within their environment. It will then be tested as a key for understanding the link between life and law and showing the inadequacy of Foucault and Agamben’s biopolitical reflections: if law is an immanent order, then life is identical with its own inherent normativity. Finally, drawing on Deleuze’s philosophy of right, the fundamental features of an immanent practice of law, a “speculative jurisprudence” which confirms the binding between law, life, and immanence, will be sketched as a proposal for a practical philosophy consistent with Whitehead’s process cosmology.Questo testo esplora il concetto di legge come ordine immanente elaborato da Whitehead, sostenendo che esso possa essere usato per coprire l’intero campo semantico denotato dalla parola ‘legge’, e in particolare la sua accezione giuridica. Dopo aver illustrato le caratteristiche che lo rendono più plausibile e desiderabile dell’opposta concezione della legge come un’imposizione trascendente, la legge sarà definita come l’espressione del modo d’esistenza degli individui all’interno del loro ambiente. Questo concetto sarà poi testato come chiave per comprendere il legame tra vita e diritto, e mostrare l’inadeguatezza delle riflessioni biopolitiche di Foucault e Agamben: se la legge è un ordine immanente, allora la vita dev’essere identica alla propria normatività inerente. Infine, anche attraverso la filosofia del diritto di Deleuze, si delineeranno le caratteristiche fondamentali di una pratica immanente del diritto, una “giurisprudenza speculativa” che reintegri il diritto la legge e la vita all’immanenza, come proposta per una filosofia pratica coerente con la cosmologia processuale di Whitehead

Bergson sulla spiaggia: rêverie marina e ontologia della memoria

Questo articolo si propone come contributo alla teoria della rêverie degli elementi naturali sviluppata da Gaston Bachelard. Si argomenterà che la contemplazione del mare sollecita una visione particolare del mondo che può affettare le nostre idee del tempo e della memoria. Sulla scia del famoso detto di Eraclito, quella del fiume è sempre stata l’immagine principale per descrivere la natura inafferrabile del tempo; ma il mare, il luogo dove finiscono tutti i fiumi, fornisce una perfetta analogia naturale per la conservazione del «passato in sé» attorno cui Henri Bergson ha costruito la sua teoria della durata e della memoria: niente scompare davvero, e così il passato viene dotato della consistenza e della vivida eternità che la filosofia tradizionale attribuiva all’essere. Intercessori dal panorama letterario, uniti alla considerazione filosofica di alcune immagini ricorrenti – specialmente quelle del relitto e della città sommersa – aiuteranno ad approssimare la rêverie marina al pensiero di Bergson, approssimazione che si compirà nella conclusione.This paper is a contribution to the theory of reverie of natural elements developed by Gaston Bachelard. It will argue that the contemplation of the sea elicits a peculiar look at the world that can affect our views of time and memory. After Heraclitus, the river is the major image for the unseizable passing of time; but the sea is where every river goes to. Thus, the sea becomes a perfect natural analogon for the conservation of the past in itself around which Henri Bergson built his theory of duration and memory: nothing really disappears, and the past has the consistence and lively eternity that traditional philosophy attributed to being. Literary intermediaries as well as a philosophical consideration of some recurrent images – especially wreckages and submerged cities – will help in the approximation of sea reverie to Bergson’s thought, that will be carried out in the conclusion

Optical activation of germanium plasmonic antennas in the mid-infrared

Impulsive interband excitation with femtosecond near-infrared pulses establishes a plasma response in intrinsic germanium structures fabricated on a silicon substrate. This direct approach activates the plasmonic resonance of the Ge structures and enables their use as optical antennas up to the mid-infrared spectral range. The optical switching lasts for hundreds of picoseconds until charge recombination redshifts the plasma frequency. The full behavior of the structures is modeled by the electrodynamic response established by an electron-hole plasma in a regular array of antennas

High-quality SNPs from genic regions highlight introgression patterns among European white oaks (Quercus petraea and Q. robur)

International audienceIn the post-genomics era, non-model species like most Fagaceae still lack operational diversity resources for population genomics studies. Sequence data were produced from over 800 gene fragments covering ~530 kb across the genic partition of European oaks, in a discovery panel of 25 individuals from western and central Europe (11 Quercus petraea, 13 Q. robur, one Q. ilex as an outgroup). Regions targeted represented broad functional categories potentially involved in species ecological preferences, and a random set of genes. Using a high-quality dedicated pipeline, we provide a detailed characterization of these genic regions, which included over 14500 polymorphisms, with ~12500 SNPs −218 being triallelic-, over 1500 insertion-deletions, and ~200 novel di- and tri-nucleotide SSR loci. This catalog also provides various summary statistics within and among species, gene ontology information, and standard formats to assist loci choice for genotyping projects. The distribution of nucleotide diversity (θπ) and differentiation (FST) across genic regions are also described for the first time in those species, with a mean n θπ close to ~0.0049 in Q. petraea and to ~0.0045 in Q. robur across random regions, and a mean FST ~0.13 across SNPs. The magnitude of diversity across genes is within the range estimated for long-term perennial outcrossers, and can be considered relatively high in the plant kingdom, with an estimate across the genome of 41 to 51 million SNPs expected in both species. Individuals with typical species morphology were more easily assigned to their corresponding genetic cluster for Q. robur than for Q. petraea, revealing higher or more recent introgression in Q. petraea and a stronger species integration in Q. robur in this particular discovery panel. We also observed robust patterns of a slightly but significantly higher diversity in Q. petraea, across a random gene set and in the abiotic stress functional category, and a heterogeneous landscape of both diversity and differentiation. To explain these patterns, we discuss an alternative and non-exclusive hypothesis of stronger selective constraints in Q. robur, the most pioneering species in oak forest stand dynamics, additionally to the recognized and documented introgression history in both species despite their strong reproductive barriers. The quality of the data provided here and their representativity in terms of species genomic diversity make them useful for possible applications in medium-scale landscape and molecular ecology projects. Moreover, they can serve as reference resources for validation purposes in larger-scale resequencing projects. This type of project is preferentially recommended in oaks in contrast to SNP array development, given the large nucleotide variation and the low levels of linkage disequilibrium revealed

Solid Organ Transplantation During COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Web-based Survey on Resources’ Allocation

Background. Solid organ transplants (SOTs) are life-saving interventions, recently challenged by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SOTs require a multistep process, which can be affected by COVID-19 at several phases. Methods. SOT-specialists, COVID-19-specialists, and medical ethicists designed an international survey according to CHERRIES guidelines. Personal opinions about continuing SOTs, safe managing of donors and recipients, as well as equity of resources' allocation were investigated. The survey was sent by e-mail. Multiple approaches were used (corresponding authors from Scopus, websites of scientific societies, COVID-19 webinars). After the descriptive analysis, univariate and multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed. Results. There were 1819 complete answers from 71 countries. The response rate was 49%. Data were stratified according to region, macrospecialty, and organ of interest. Answers were analyzed using univariate- multivariate ordinal regression analysis and thematic analysis. Overall, 20% of the responders thought SOTs should not stop (continue transplant without restriction); over 70% suggested SOTs should selectively stop, and almost 10% indicated they should completely stop. Furthermore, 82% agreed to shift resources from transplant to COVID-19 temporarily. Briefly, main reason for not stopping was that if the transplant will not proceed, the organ will be wasted. Focusing on SOT from living donors, 61% stated that activity should be restricted only to "urgent"cases. At the multivariate analysis, factors identified in favor of continuing transplant were Italy, ethicist, partially disagreeing on the equity question, a high number of COVID-19- related deaths on the day of the answer, a high IHDI country. Factors predicting to stop SOTs were Europe except-Italy, public university hospital, and strongly agreeing on the equity question. Conclusions. In conclusion, the majority of responders suggested that transplant activity should be continued through the implementation of isolation measures and the adoption of the COVID-19-free pathways. Differences between professional categories are less strong than supposed

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

Optimização e influência na bioactividade do processo de secagem por radiação infravermelha de amostras de pólen apícola

Mestrado em Controlo de QualidadeMSc in Quality Contro