Plastic neuroscience: studying what the brain cares about.

Drawing on Allan Newells You cant play 20 questions with nature and win, this article proposes that neuroscience needs to go beyond binary hypothesis testing and design experiments that follow what neurons care about. Examples from Lettvin et. al. are used to demonstrate that one can experimentally play with neurons and generate surprising results. In this manner, brains are not confused with persons, rather, persons are understood to do things with their brains

Equilibrando: Dançando com Conceitos como Pesquisa

Inside of the norming power of “balance” as a concept, lies the layering of balance as a moving-idea of ideal-movement. How “we” learn and incorporate the concept-practice of balancing gives shape to our lifeworld in political, historical, gymnastic and practical ways. Balance as a form of obfuscation or ideology that is at the core of how we live our lives in society. One aided in no small part by how we understand ourselves as bodyminds who balance. But opposing concept to practice misses the point: concepts are also practice as research, in both mundane and profound ways. Biology too is inhabited by metaphors in motion, a living responsive system that requires practice as research. Learning from the dance form Contact Improvisation, we can attend to ‘The Stand’, how we stand, and how standing can come to be experienced as repeatedly slightly falling off-balance and catching yourself. In asking people to do something attentively, they find themselves moved by the concepts or metaphors that inhabit them, and as they move differently, the metaphors can shift. Dancing with concepts is a type of empirical philosophy. We can become still in more ways, and I find more in the concept, the metaphors of stillness multiply. Through this living vocabulary, we can become a thinkers with our bodies. In practice as research, we discover not what a concept is, but what this concept can do, now, and then now again.En el interior mismo del poder normativo del concepto de ‘equilibrio’, reciden sus múltiples capas material-semióticas. Las cuales nos invitan a entenderlo como la idea transformadora de un tipo ideal de movimiento. La manera en que “nosotros” aprendemos e incorporamos el concepto-práctica del equilibrio da forma a nuestro mundo-vida en términos políticos, históricos, gimnásticos y prácticos. Así, entonces, comprendemos el equilibrio como una forma de ofuscación o ideología que está en el centro de la manera cómo vivimos nuestras vidas en sociedad. En gran parte, hemos colaborado con este aparato ideológico por la forma en que nos entendemos a nosotros mismos como cuerpos-mentes que se equilibran. Con todo, no es el punto oponer el concepto a la práctica: los conceptos también son la práctica-como-investigación, tanto de manera baladí como profunda. Por su parte, la biología también está habitada por metáforas en movimiento, un sistema viviente receptivo que requiere la perspectiva de la práctica-como-investigación. Aprendiendo con el Contact (danza contacto), podemos atender a la postura denominada ‘The Stand’ (quedarse de pie), y observar como nos mantenemos erguidos, y cómo esta posición puede llegar a experimentarse como un constante perder el equilibrio para volver a recobrarlo. En la presente investigación, al pedirle a las personas que hagan algo atentamente, se ha evidenciado como estas se ven movidas por los conceptos o metáforas que las habitan, y como al moverse de manera diferente, las metáforas pueden llegar a cambiar. Bailar con conceptos es un tipo de filosofía empírica. Así, encontramos más maneras de quedarnos quietos, descubriendo toda la gama de posibilidades implicadas en el concepto del equilibrio. Las metáforas de la quietud se multiplican, como también los detalles del concepto. A través de este vocabulario vivo, podemos convertirnos en pensadores con nuestros cuerpos. En la práctica-como-investigación, descubrimos no lo que es un concepto, sino lo que éste puede hacer, en este momento, y luego, en otro momento, una vez más.Dentro do próprio poder normativo do conceito de “equilíbrio”, eles recitam suas múltiplas camadas material-semióticas. O que nos convida a entendê-lo como a ideia transformadora de um tipo ideal de movimento. Como “nós” aprender e incorporar o conceito ea prática de equilíbrio molda os nossos termos políticos, históricos, ginástica e práticas mundiais de vida. Então, entendemos o equilíbrio como uma forma de ofuscação ou ideologia que está no centro de como vivemos nossas vidas na sociedade. Em grande parte, temos colaborado com esse aparato ideológico pela maneira como nos entendemos como corpo-mente que equilibra. No entanto, não é o ponto de opor-se ao conceito em prática: conceitos são também uma prática-as-a pesquisa, tanto maneira trivial e profundo. Enquanto isso, biologia também é habitada por metáforas em movimento um sistema vivo receptivo que exige a perspectiva da prática-como-pesquisa. Aprender com contato (contato dança), que pode servir para a posição chamada ‘The Stand’ (para ficar) e ver como podemos ficar de pé, e como esta posição pode vir a ser experimentado como um equilíbrio perdedor constante para recuperá-la novamente. No presente inquérito, pedir às pessoas para fazer algo com cuidado, tornou-se evidente como é que você se moveu pelos conceitos ou metáforas que os habitam são, e como se mover de forma diferente, metáforas pode mesmo mudar. Dançar com conceitos é um tipo de filosofia empírica. Assim, encontramos mais maneiras de ficar parado, descobrindo toda a gama de possibilidades envolvidas no conceito de equilíbrio. As metáforas da quietude se multiplicam, assim como os detalhes do conceito. Através deste vocabulário vivo, podemos nos tornar pensadores com nossos corpos. Na prática-como-pesquisa, descobrimos não o que um conceito, mas o que pode fazer, neste momento, e depois, mais uma vez

A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Effects of Noncontact Normothermic Wound Therapy on Chronic Full-thickness Pressure Ulcers

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of noncontact normothermic wound therapy (NNWT) versus standard wound care on chronic full-thickness pressure ulcers. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial SETTING: Veterans administration medical center and 7 long-term-care facilities PATIENTS: 40 inpatients with 43 Stage III and IV pressure ulcers INTERVENTIONS: A sterile noncontact wound dressing was applied to 21 wounds for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Each day after the wound was irrigated and the noncontact dressing was changed, a heating element in the dressing was activated for 3 1-hour periods for 12 weeks or until wound closure. Twenty-two control wounds were treated with standard, moisture-retentive dressings 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for 12 weeks or until wound closure. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Measurement of wound surface area MAIN RESULTS: Healing rate for the NNWT group was significantly greater than for the control group (0.52 cm2 per week and 0.23 cm2 per week, respectively;PPP \u3c.05). CONCLUSION: Wounds treated with NNWT healed significantly faster than wounds in the control group. The healing rate was greatest for larger wounds treated with NNWT

Neurointerfaces, mental imagery and sensory translation in art and science in the digital age

The chapter focuses on the issue of transmedial and sensory exchange in the context of digital culture and biometric technology. It analyzes critically the epistemic claims behind the various brain-scanning technologies, focusing on the status of the inner images that underlie cognitive activity. Multimedia performances and artistic experiments designed in collaboration with neuroscientists open up new dimensions in the discussion of translation between different sensory modalities, as well as translation between human perceptive apparatus and computational systems. Engaging the methodologies of contemporary image science and critical neuroscience, the paper shows how artistic scenarios help to both localize and expand our understanding of mental imagery and to offer an alternative to the existing correlations-based approach.FGW – Publications without University Leiden contrac

Da aplicação à implicação na antropologia médica: leituras políticas, históricas e narrativas do mundo do adoecimento e da saúde

Revisa parte da literatura da antropologia médica contemporânea, guiando-se pela orientação/implicação política na escolha de seus objetos de estudo, na análise e na construção de soluções para os problemas investigados. A partir de narrativas de antropólogos, evidenciam-se as bases históricas e sociopolíticas que caracterizaram o campo em seus países de origem ou de migração. No panorama traçado das três principais vertentes contemporâneas – as antropologias médica crítica, do sofrimento e do biopoder –, são caracterizadas escolhas teóricas e temáticas para atender à demanda de “politização” do debate antropológico na saúde, defendendo-se uma antropologia médica “implicada”

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Drugs, Politics, and Culture

Examines the relationship between drugs, politics, and society in cross-cultural perspective; use of mind-altering and habit-forming substances by "traditional societies"; the development of a global trade in sugar, opium, and cocaine with the rise of capitalism; and the use and abuse of alcohol, LSD, and Prozac in the US. Finishes by looking at the war on drugs, shifting attitudes to tobacco, and by evaluating America's drug laws