Peter Gaitsch: Eric Weils Logik der Philosophie. Eine phänomenologische Relektüre.

Review of Perter Gaitsch's book Eric Weils Logik der Philosophie. Eine phänomenologische Relektüre

Pupillometry in infancy research

The human pupil is a small opening in each eye that dilates in response not only to changes in luminance but also to novel events. This makes changes in pupil diameter an attractive measure in studies on infants’ and young children’s physical and social cognition. However, designing and interpreting pupillometry studies for developmental populations comes with its own caveats. Here we give an overview of how psychologically induced changes in pupil diameter have been investigated and interpreted in developmental studies. We highlight the methodological challenges when designing experiments for infants and young children and provide several suggestions to address common problems. The fact that pupillometry provides a sensitive measure of the time course of responses to novelty extends the scope of possibilities for researchers studying infant cognition and development

Young Children and Adults Show Differential Arousal to Moral and Conventional Transgressions

From a young age, children understand and enforce moral norms, which are aimed at preserving the rights and welfare of others. Children also distinguish moral norms from other types of norms such as conventional norms, which serve to ensure coordination within social groups or institutions. However, far less is known about the mechanisms driving this differentiation. This article investigates the role of internal arousal in distinguishing moral from conventional norms. In a between-subjects design, 3-year-olds (n = 32), 4-year-olds (n = 34), and undergraduate students (n = 64) watched a video of either a moral norm violation (e.g., destroying another person’s artwork) or a conventional norm violation (e.g., playing a game wrong). Participants of all age groups showed differential physiological arousal (pupil dilation) to moral and conventional norm violations. Participants of all age groups also attended significantly more to the victim of the moral transgression than the bystander in the conventional transgression. Further, this differential attention to the victim/bystander positively correlated with the change in participants’ phasic pupil dilation to the norm violation. This is the first evidence that differences in internal arousal co-occur with (and possibly contribute to) the distinction that even young children draw between moral and conventional norms

New biostratigraphic data from the Early Pleistocene tyrrhenian PALEOCOAST (Western Umbria, Central Italy)

Plio-quaternary marine deposits are largely documented in western Umbria (central Italy), although they still lack biostratigraphic definition. Contrary to published data, Early Pleistocene deposits outcrop more extensively than previously reported in the Orvieto area. A composite biostratigraphic succession, almost continuous from the top of the G. gr. crassaformis Zone to the top of the Gl. cariacoensis Zone, can be reconstructed in offshore clay sections. Nannofossil assemblages and marker events (bmG, tCm, blG, tHs, tlG) from the MNN16a to MNN19e subzones have been documented. Lower shoreface - transition to offshore sections as described, are characterized by poor planktonic assemblages; nevertheless, they are still referable to the same stratigraphic interval. Deposits can be partially inserted into the "Chiani - Tevere" depositional cycle, also documented in this area. Moreover, marine conditions persist in the area from the base of the Gelasian to the top of the Calabrian, and it can be modelled as a peripheral, survival sea-branch, cut-off from the main river supply and from continental influence. However, Zanclean to Piacenzian deposits occur in a small area, localized around the town of Orvieto, so the former distinction of superimposed depositional cycles can only be speculative

Marine Emissions of Halogenated Trace Gases From The Tropical Ocean

Oceanic bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2) are the largest contributors to organic bromine in the atmosphere, while atmospheric organoiodine is significantly influenced by marine methyl iodide (CH3I) and diiodomethane (CH2I2). Halogenated hydrocarbons (halocarbons) and their degradation products are involved in ozone chemistry in both the troposphere and stratosphere. With decreasing anthropogenic atmospheric halocarbons, the impact of naturally produced halocarbons on atmospheric processes will likely increase. Many uncertainties still exist with regard to their production and degradation in the ocean, as well as to their emissions. While macroalgae have been identified as important sources of them, microalgae were shown to be halocarbon producers as well. Hence, oceanic upwelling systems might play a crucial role for open ocean emissions. The tropical ocean has not only been hypothesized to contribute largely to global halocarbon emissions, but it also may contribute to their transport into upper atmospheric layers. They may be transported in significant amounts into the tropical stratosphere by tropical deep convection. This thesis aims at reducing some of the uncertainties regarding halocarbon emissions from the tropical ocean to understand their role in a future climate. Two campaigns are covered here: MSM18/3 onboard RV Maria S. Merian investigating the Eastern tropical equatorial Atlantic during the cooling season in June and July 2011, and DRIVE (Diurnal and RegIonal Variability of halogen Emissions) onboard RV Poseidon, which focused on the Mauritanian upwelling region in June 2010. Oceanic and atmospheric halocarbon data, biological, meteorological and oceanographic parameters were collected to investigate impact factors on halocarbon emissions. The oceanic and atmospheric data were also included in the most complete halocarbon database so far, HalOcAt (Halocarbons in the Ocean and Atmosphere). Manuscripts, prepared and published on the basis of this data set, include the first manuscript (Hepach et al., in prep) that focuses on the first measurements of CHBr3, CH2Br2, CH3I and CH2I2 in the surface and the water column of the equatorial Atlantic during the Atlantic Cold Tongue (ACT) season. The second (Hepach et al., 2014) and third manuscript (Fuhlbrügge et al., 2013) cover oceanic and atmospheric abundances of CHBr3, CH2Br2 and CH3I in the Mauritanian upwelling region on a diel and regional scale. While the second manuscript investigates impact factors on emissions of these compounds, the third manuscript analyzes meteorological constraints on atmospheric halocarbons. The fourth manuscript (Ziska et al., 2013) uses the HalOcAt database to determine global emissions of CHBr3, CH2Br2 and CH3I, and estimates global contributions from different regions. In the fifth manuscript (Stemmler et al., 2013), depth profiles of CH3I measured during the DRIVE campaign are used to validate modeled profiles from the tropical open ocean using the General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM). The transport of emissions of CH3I into the stratosphere is calculated in the sixth manuscript (Tegtmeier et al., 2013), indicating that CH3I from the DRIVE campaign is entrained in small amounts into the stratosphere. Both upwelling systems, the Mauritanian upwelling and the equatorial Atlantic, were shown here to be source regions for CHBr3 and CH2Br2, contributing to the large emissions of these compounds from the tropical ocean. While CH3I has been found to be ubiquitously distributed in the Mauritanian upwelling region hinting towards photochemical formation there, strong implications for biological formation were found in the ACT. This agrees well to the modeled depth profiles of CH3I indicating they may be influenced both by photochemical and biological formation of this compound. Although it has been hypothesized that the tropical ocean may not contribute to CH2I2 emissions to the atmosphere due to its very rapid photolysis, CH2I2 could be detected in low concentrations in the surface water of the ACT. The first determination of diapycnal fluxes of CHBr3, CH2Br2, CH3I and CH2I2 in the ACT indicate that their production takes place within the mixed layer regardless of deeper biomass maxima, which may be very important for their emissions. In the Mauritanian upwelling, oceanic halocarbon production was identified as the main driver of halocarbon emissions with wind speed having impact on a diel scale. For the first time, the height of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) has been found to indirectly impact halocarbon emissions due to its decreasing and increasing effect on atmospheric halocarbons. Together with enhanced emissions of halocarbons, the largely elevated atmospheric halocarbons above the Mauritanian upwelling could be explained solely by local emissions in contrast to previous hypotheses. This process could be of importance in other coastal upwelling systems as well

Observing prosociality and talent: the emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of elevation and admiration in 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children

Helping and seeing others being helped elicits positive emotions in young children but little is known about the nature of these emotions, especially in middle childhood. Here we examined the specific emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of two closely related other-praising moral emotions: elevation and admiration. We exposed 182 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children living in New Zealand, to an elevation- and admiration-inducing video clip. Afterwards children’s emotion experiences and prosocial behaviour was measured. Findings revealed higher levels of happiness, care, and warmth after seeing prosociality in others (elevation condition) and higher levels of upliftment after seeing talent in others (admiration condition). We found no differences in prosocial behavior between the elevation and admiration conditions. This is the first study to assess elevation in childhood and offers a novel paradigm to investigate the role of moral emotions as potential motivators underlying helping