Local softness, softness dipole and polarizabilities of functional groups: application to the side chains of the twenty amino acids

The values of molecular polarizabilities and softnesses of the twenty amino acids were computed ab initio (MP2). By using the iterative Hirshfeld scheme to partition the molecular electronic properties, we demonstrate that the values of the softness of the side chain of the twenty amino acid are clustered in groups reflecting their biochemical classification, namely: aliphatic, basic, acidic, sulfur containing, and aromatic amino acids . The present findings are in agreement with previous results using different approximations and partitioning schemes [P. Senet and F. Aparicio, J. Chem. Phys. 126,145105 (2007)]. In addition, we show that the polarizability of the side chain of an amino acid depends mainly on its number of electrons (reflecting its size) and consequently cannot be used to cluster the amino acids in different biochemical groups, in contrast to the local softness. Our results also demonstrate that the global softness is not simply proportional to the global polarizability in disagreement with the intuition that "a softer moiety is also more polarizable". Amino acids with the same softness may have a polarizability differing by a factor as large as 1.7. This discrepancy can be understood from first principles as we show that the molecular polarizability depends on a "softness dipole vector" and not simply on the global softness

Empathy, engagement, entrainment: the interaction dynamics of aesthetic experience

A recent version of the view that aesthetic experience is based in empathy as inner imitation explains aesthetic experience as the automatic simulation of actions, emotions, and bodily sensations depicted in an artwork by motor neurons in the brain. Criticizing the simulation theory for committing to an erroneous concept of empathy and failing to distinguish regular from aesthetic experiences of art, I advance an alternative, dynamic approach and claim that aesthetic experience is enacted and skillful, based in the recognition of others’ experiences as distinct from one’s own. In combining insights from mainly psychology, phenomenology, and cognitive science, the dynamic approach aims to explain the emergence of aesthetic experience in terms of the reciprocal interaction between viewer and artwork. I argue that aesthetic experience emerges by participatory sense-making and revolves around movement as a means for creating meaning. While entrainment merely plays a preparatory part in this, aesthetic engagement constitutes the phenomenological side of coupling to an artwork and provides the context for exploration, and eventually for moving, seeing, and feeling with art. I submit that aesthetic experience emerges from bodily and emotional engagement with works of art via the complementary processes of the perception–action and motion–emotion loops. The former involves the embodied visual exploration of an artwork in physical space, and progressively structures and organizes visual experience by way of perceptual feedback from body movements made in response to the artwork. The latter concerns the movement qualities and shapes of implicit and explicit bodily responses to an artwork that cue emotion and thereby modulate over-all affect and attitude. The two processes cause the viewer to bodily and emotionally move with and be moved by individual works of art, and consequently to recognize another psychological orientation than her own, which explains how art can cause feelings of insight or awe and disclose aspects of life that are unfamiliar or novel to the viewer

Depresión materna, prácticas parentales y sexo de los niños: predicción de comportamientos infantiles

Na infância, a exposição a sintomas depressivos maternos e práticas parentais negativas configura-se como vulnerabilidade, associando-se a problemas comportamentais. Este estudo teve por objetivos: verificar o efeito da depressão materna (fator principal) para os indicadores comportamentais e práticas parentais, considerando-se o efeito do sexo dos filhos (fator covariável); e verificar os efeitos preditivos da depressão materna, práticas parentais maternas e sexo das crianças para os indicadores comportamentais. Incluída amostra da comunidade de 101 díades de mães-crianças. As mães responderam: Entrevista Clínica Estruturada para o DSM-IV, Inventário de Estilos Parentais e Questionário de Capacidades e Dificuldades da Criança. Análises de covariância e regressão linear multivariada evidenciaram o sexo masculino e práticas de negligência, abuso físico e disciplina relaxada como principais preditores de problemas comportamentais de crianças expostas a práticas negativas e depressão materna. Tais resultados evidenciam o papel do sexo nas interações entre as variáveis, podendo nortear intervenções em saúde-mental.La exposición a depresión materna y prácticas parentales negativas en la infancia se configuran como factor de vulnerabilidad relacionado con problemas comportamentales. Este estudio tuvo por objetivo verificar el efecto de la depresión materna (factor principal) en los indicadores comportamentales y prácticas parentales, considerando el efecto del sexo de los hijos (factor covariable); así como identificar los efectos predictivos de la depresión, las prácticas parentales maternas y el sexo de los niños en los indicadores comportamentales. Se compuso la muestra comunitaria con 101 díadas madres-hijos. Las madres respondieron a la Entrevista Clínica Estructurada para el DSM-IV, al Inventario de Estilos Parentales y al Cuestionario de Capacidades y Dificultades. Los análisis de covariancia y de regresión lineal multivariada evidenciaron el sexo masculino y las prácticas de negligencia, abuso físico y disciplina relajada como los principales predictores de problemas comportamentales de niños expuestos a prácticas negativas y a depresión materna. Tales resultados evidencian el papel del sexo en las interacciones entre las variables, favoreciendo las intervenciones en salud mental.Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms and negative parenting practices during childhood configures a vulnerability factor associated with behavior problems among children. This study aims to verify the predictive effects of maternal depression (main factor) on behavioral outcomes and maternal parenting practices, considering the sex of the children (covariate factor); and the predictive effect of maternal depression, parenting practices, and child’s sex on behavioral outcomes. The sample was composed of a community sample of 101 mother-child pairs. Mothers answered to: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders, Parenting Styles Inventory, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The covariance and multiple linear regressions analysis showed that being a boy, and specific practices of neglect, physical abuse, and permissive discipline were the main predictors of behavioral problems among children exposed to negative practices and maternal depression. These findings underline the role of the child’s sex in the interactions between variables, which could contribute to interventions in mental health

Tangled Nature: A model of emergent structure and temporal mode among co-evolving agents

Understanding systems level behaviour of many interacting agents is challenging in various ways, here we'll focus on the how the interaction between components can lead to hierarchical structures with different types of dynamics, or causations, at different levels. We use the Tangled Nature model to discuss the co-evolutionary aspects connecting the microscopic level of the individual to the macroscopic systems level. At the microscopic level the individual agent may undergo evolutionary changes due to mutations of strategies. The micro-dynamics always run at a constant rate. Nevertheless, the system's level dynamics exhibit a completely different type of intermittent abrupt dynamics where major upheavals keep throwing the system between meta-stable configurations. These dramatic transitions are described by a log-Poisson time statistics. The long time effect is a collectively adapted of the ecological network. We discuss the ecological and macroevolutionary consequences of the adaptive dynamics and briefly describe work using the Tangled Nature framework to analyse problems in economics, sociology, innovation and sustainabilityComment: Invited contribution to Focus on Complexity in European Journal of Physics. 25 page, 1 figur

Multiplexed characterization of rationally designed promoter architectures deconstructs combinatorial logic for IPTG-inducible systems

A crucial step towards engineering biological systems is the ability to precisely tune the genetic response to environmental stimuli. In the case of Escherichia coli inducible promoters, our incomplete understanding of the relationship between sequence composition and gene expression hinders our ability to predictably control transcriptional responses. Here, we profile the expression dynamics of 8269 rationally designed, IPTG-inducible promoters that collectively explore the individual and combinatorial effects of RNA polymerase and LacI repressor binding site strengths. We then fit a statistical mechanics model to measured expression that accurately models gene expression and reveals properties of theoretically optimal inducible promoters. Furthermore, we characterize three alternative promoter architectures and show that repositioning binding sites within promoters influences the types of combinatorial effects observed between promoter elements. In total, this approach enables us to deconstruct relationships between inducible promoter elements and discover practical insights for engineering inducible promoters with desirable characteristics

Alcohol-Related Cause of Spinal Cord Injury and the Impact on Service Recommendations

Healthcare professionals from whom clients might seek services should provide the best quality care regardless of biases, predispositions, worldview, and personal values. The purpose of this study was to explore how the perceived cause of spinal cord injury (SCI) affected service delivery recommendations from bachelor-level rehabilitation services trainees. Specifically, causal attribution of disability was the dependent variable in two case vignettes, one where the person was personally responsible for the cause of the SCI (i.e., driving under the influence, leading to a motor vehicle accident) and one with an external cause (i.e., motor vehicle accident caused by another driver). The impact on acute care, lifelong care, and specific specialist recommendations was assessed. There was a significant difference in the scores for external cause (M = 1.85, SD = .89) and internal cause (M = 1.4, SD = .60) of SCI and recommendation for life-long care, t(245) = 4.62, p = .000. Acute care and specialist recommendations revealed no differences. Implications for training to address attitudes are discussed

Team Reasoning and Collective Intentionality

Different versions of the idea that individualism about agency is the root of standard game theoretical puzzles have been defended by Regan 1980, Bacharach (Research in Economics 53: 117–147, 1999), Hurley (Behavioral and Brain Sciences 26: 264–265, 2003), Sugden (Philosophical Explorations 6(3):165–181, 2003), and Tuomela 2013, among others. While collectivistic game theorists like Michael Bacharach provide formal frameworks designed to avert some of the standard dilemmas, philosophers of collective action like Raimo Tuomela aim at substantive accounts of collective action that may explain how agents overcoming such social dilemmas would be motivated. This paper focuses on the conditions on collective action and intention that need to be fulfilled for Bacharach’s “team reasoning” to occur. Two influential approaches to collective action are related to the idea of team reasoning: Michael Bratman’s theory of shared intention and Raimo Tuomela’s theory of a we-mode of intending. I argue that neither captures the “agency transformation” that team reasoning requires. That might be an acceptable conclusion for Bratman but more problematic for Tuomela, who claims that Bacharach’s results support his theory. I sketch an alternative framework in which the perspectival element that is required for team reasoning - the ‘we-perspective’ - can be understood and functionally characterized in relation to the traditional distinction between mode and content of intentional states. I claim that the latter understanding of a collective perspective provides the right kind of philosophical background for team reasoning, and I discuss some implications in relation to Tuomela’s assumption that switching between individual and collective perspectives can be a matter of rational choice

A Review of Chemosensation and Related Behavior in Aquatic Insects

Insects that are secondarily adapted to aquatic environments are able to sense odors from a diverse array of sources. The antenna of these insects, as in all insects, is the main chemosensory structure and its input to the brain allows for integration of sensory information that ultimately ends in behavioral responses. Only a fraction of the aquatic insect orders have been studied with respect to their sensory biology and most of the work has centered either on the description of the different types of sensilla, or on the behavior of the insect as a whole. In this paper, the literature is exhaustively reviewed and ways in which antennal morphology, brain structure, and associated behavior can advance better understanding of the neurobiology involved in processing of chemosensory information are discussed. Moreover, the importance of studying such group of insects is stated, and at the same time it is shown that many interesting questions regarding olfactory processing can be addressed by looking into the changes that aquatic insects undergo when leaving their aquatic environment