Johnston versus Johnston

Personites are like continuant people but shorter-lived. Johnston argues that personites do not exist since otherwise personites would have the same moral status as persons, which is untenable. I argue that Johnston’s arguments fail. To do that I propose an alternative way to understand intrinsicness and I clarify the meaning of reductionism about persons. I also argue that a plausible ethical theory is possible even if personites have the same moral status as persons. My arguments draw on Johnston’s earlier debate with Parfit about personal identity and the place of ordinary concerns in a naturalistic world. I also describe an important but metaphysics-free problem that arises from Johnston’s discussion

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in the service of biotechnology

Originating in the Andes, the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was imported to Europe in the 16th century. At present, it is an important crop plant cultivated all over the world, and its production and consumption continue to increase. This popular vegetable is known as a major source of important nutrients including lycopene, bcarotene, flavonoids and vitamin C as well as hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives. Since the discovery that lycopene has anti-oxidative, anti-cancer properties, interest in tomatoes has grown rapidly. The development of genetic engineering tools and plant biotechnology has opened great opportunities for engineering tomato plants. This review presents examples of successful tissue culture and genetically modified tomatoes which resistance to a range of environmental stresses improved, along with fruit quality. Additionally, a successful molecular farming model was established

Multipartite quantum correlations: symplectic and algebraic geometry approach

We review a geometric approach to classification and examination of quantum correlations in composite systems. Since quantum information tasks are usually achieved by manipulating spin and alike systems or, in general, systems with a finite number of energy levels, classification problems are usually treated in frames of linear algebra. We proposed to shift the attention to a geometric description. Treating consistently quantum states as points of a projective space rather than as vectors in a Hilbert space we were able to apply powerful methods of differential, symplectic and algebraic geometry to attack the problem of equivalence of states with respect to the strength of correlations, or, in other words, to classify them from this point of view. Such classifications are interpreted as identification of states with `the same correlations properties' i.e. ones that can be used for the same information purposes, or, from yet another point of view, states that can be mutually transformed one to another by specific, experimentally accessible operations. It is clear that the latter characterization answers the fundamental question `what can be transformed into what \textit{via} available means?'. Exactly such an interpretations, i.e, in terms of mutual transformability can be clearly formulated in terms of actions of specific groups on the space of states and is the starting point for the proposed methods.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, final form submitted to the journa

Fission Yeast SCYL1/2 Homologue Ppk32: A Novel Regulator of TOR Signalling That Governs Survival during Brefeldin A Induced Stress to Protein Trafficking

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signalling allows eukaryotic cells to adjust cell growth in response to changes in their nutritional and environmental context. The two distinct TOR complexes (TORC1/2) localise to the cell’s internal membrane compartments; the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus and lysosomes/vacuoles. Here, we show that Ppk32, a SCYL family pseudo-kinase, is a novel regulator of TOR signalling. The absence of ppk32 expression confers resistance to TOR inhibition. Ppk32 inhibition of TORC1 is critical for cell survival following Brefeldin A (BFA) induced stress. Treatment of wild type cells with either the TORC1 specific inhibitor rapamycin or the general TOR inhibitor Torin1 confirmed that a reduction in TORC1 activity promoted recovery from BFA induced stress. Phosphorylation of Ppk32 on two residues that are conserved within the SCYL pseudokinase family are required for this TOR inhibition. Phosphorylation on these sites controls Ppk32 protein levels and sensitivity to BFA. BFA induced ER stress does not account for the response to BFA that we report here, however BFA is also known to induce Golgi stress and impair traffic to lysosomes. In summary, Ppk32 reduce TOR signalling in response to BFA induced stress to support cell survival

Getting Beyond Visual Impact: Designing Renewable Energy as a Positive Landscape Addition

The critical necessity of scaling up renewable energy to meet the challenge of climate change implicates vast swaths of American landscape. Renewable energy infrastructure has long concerned itself with minimizing its visual impact, in order to decrease opposition from local landowners and users of the landscape. As energy facilities proliferate across the landscape, their visual impact can be expected to grow as well—both in terms of the scale of installations, as well as the amount of territory affected. On public lands, renewable energy infrastructure has had to compete with alternate public uses of the land, including scenic and recreational values. Managers of public landscapes have developed specific procedures for describing the visual impact to landscapes stemming from energy development, and specific methodologies to evaluate whether a particular project should proceed. In most contemporary energy planning processes that include landscape design professionals, these designers’ scope is limited to comparing the visual impact of discrete energy installations: the spacing, height, and alignment of wind turbines or solar panels, for example. We argue for a more inclusive approach to incorporating spatial design considerations, earlier in the planning process, as a way of incorporating public aspirations and opinions about the energy landscape, expanding the field of potential planning outcomes, and identifying synergies for co-locating multiple positive elements. How can energy infrastructure actively participate in the shaping of a positive landscape experience, and not just try to minimize its impact on the landscape? This paper will present several examples of infrastructure-driven landscape transformations that actively incorporated public input and visual assessment considerations, at the municipal and regional scales, in order to develop energy planning frameworks with high social acceptance. One case study looks at the spatial planning around wind turbine installations in the Wieringermeer polder in the Netherlands, which used design to develop a consistent image for wind installations, and create a recognizable new layer in the cultural landscape that reflects the qualities, scale, and character of the underlying landscape (H+N+S Landschapsarchitecten, 2014). One other European example demonstrates the impact of an iterative design process in producing the successful Middelgrunden wind farm in Copenhagen, Denmark. We analyze the potential of these kinds of planning processes on American renewable energy infrastructure planning. We note examples of energy planning that are successfully minimizing conflict between social and ecological stakeholders, focusing on California programs such as the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), but that would benefit from incorporating design methodologies more extensively to manage visual landscape impact

Influence of surface roughness on selected properties of the TiAlN coating

The HS6-5-2C steel samples with different surface roughness were used for the tests. After grinding had a roughness parameter of Ra = 0,03 μm, and after polishing Ra = 0,01 μm. A TiAlN coating was applied to the substrate prepared in this way. Using a confocal microscope with an interferometric mode, the geometrical structure of the samples was analyzed. The optical strain gauge was used to measure the contact angle. Tribological tests were carried out in conditions of technically dry friction. The polished sample with the coating was characterized by a more stable course of the friction coefficient, lower wear and a smaller wetting angle

Influence of surface roughness on selected properties of the TiAlN coating

The HS6-5-2C steel samples with different surface roughness were used for the tests. After grinding had a roughness parameter of Ra = 0,03 μm, and after polishing Ra = 0,01 μm. A TiAlN coating was applied to the substrate prepared in this way. Using a confocal microscope with an interferometric mode, the geometrical structure of the samples was analyzed. The optical strain gauge was used to measure the contact angle. Tribological tests were carried out in conditions of technically dry friction. The polished sample with the coating was characterized by a more stable course of the friction coefficient, lower wear and a smaller wetting angle

The influence of environmental conditions on the tribological properties of the Ti13Nb13Zr alloy

The paper presents the results of tribological tests of the Ti13Nb13Zr titanium alloy - carried out in the conditions of lubrication with liquids simulating body fluids. Artificial saliva solutions were used for the tests. Two pH values were used – 7,0 characteristic of a healthy organism and 4,9 - typical for the presence of inflammation. The countersample in the tested friction nodes were Al2O3 balls with a diameter of 6 mm loaded with a normal force of 1 N. The tests obtained showed a strong influence of environmental conditions on the tribological properties of the Ti13Nb13Zr titanium alloy. This applies to both the value of the coefficient of friction and linear wear. In the case of tests carried out under lubrication conditions with an artificial saliva solution at pH 7,0 they were 0,47 and 31,1 μm, respectively; in the case of a fluid at pH 4,9 they were 25 % and 45 % higher (0,62 and 65,6 μm)

The influence of environmental conditions on the tribological properties of the Ti13Nb13Zr alloy

The paper presents the results of tribological tests of the Ti13Nb13Zr titanium alloy - carried out in the conditions of lubrication with liquids simulating body fluids. Artificial saliva solutions were used for the tests. Two pH values were used – 7,0 characteristic of a healthy organism and 4,9 - typical for the presence of inflammation. The countersample in the tested friction nodes were Al2O3 balls with a diameter of 6 mm loaded with a normal force of 1 N. The tests obtained showed a strong influence of environmental conditions on the tribological properties of the Ti13Nb13Zr titanium alloy. This applies to both the value of the coefficient of friction and linear wear. In the case of tests carried out under lubrication conditions with an artificial saliva solution at pH 7,0 they were 0,47 and 31,1 μm, respectively; in the case of a fluid at pH 4,9 they were 25 % and 45 % higher (0,62 and 65,6 μm)

Novel Quaternary Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As): Magnetic and Magneto-Transport Investigations

Magnetic and magneto-transport properties of thin layers of the (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As) quaternary dilute magnetic semiconductor grown by the low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy technique on GaAs substrates have been investigated. Ferromagnetic Curie temperature and magneto-crystalline anisotropy of the layers have been examined by using magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry and low-temperature magneto-transport measurements. Postgrowth annealing treatment has been shown to enhance the hole concentration and Curie temperature in the layers. Significant increase in the magnitude of magnetotransport effects caused by incorporation of a small amount of Bi into the (Ga,Mn)As layers revealed in the planar Hall effect (PHE) measurements, is interpreted as a result of enhanced spin-orbit coupling in the (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As) layers. Two-state behaviour of the planar Hall resistance at zero magnetic field provides its usefulness for applications in nonvolatile memory devices.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of ICSM-2016 conferenc