The Map and the Manap : decentralization in the pastures of the Kyrgyz Republic

This paper looks at the 2009 implementation of The Law on Pastures in the Kyrgyz Republic. This law called for the development of local pasture management committees tasked with reforming and streamlining the process of leasing out state-owned pastures for livestock grazing. Using data collected through interviews, participant observation, and archival research in a village in the northern Kyrgyz Republic, this paper explores how The Law on Pastures fits in to the historical continuum of pasture management regimes in the Kyrgyz Republic, how it devolves the power to manage pastures to the village government, and how the implementation of law might lead to improvements in the use of pasture resources

Revisiting Hafemeister’s ‘Science and Society’ Tests

We revisit a series of papers on science and society issues by David Hafemeister in the 1970s and 1980s. The emphasis in the present work is on world oil production limits and some consequences of various possible scenarios for the near future. Some of the data and scenarios used by Hafemeister are updated for U.S. oil production in the past two decades and extended to an analysis of a peak in world oil production in the future. We discuss some simple scenarios for future energy use patterns and look at the consequence of these scenarios as world oil production begins to decline. We also provide a list of resources for critical investigations of natural resource extraction and depletion patterns

Potentiality in Biology

We take the potentialities that are studied in the biological sciences (e.g., totipotency) to be an important subtype of biological dispositions. The goal of this paper is twofold: first, we want to provide a detailed understanding of what biological dispositions are. We claim that two features are essential for dispositions in biology: the importance of the manifestation process and the diversity of conditions that need to be satisfied for the disposition to be manifest. Second, we demonstrate that the concept of a disposition (or potentiality) is a very useful tool for the analysis of the explanatory practice in the biological sciences. On the one hand it allows an in-depth analysis of the nature and diversity of the conditions under which biological systems display specific behaviors. On the other hand the concept of a disposition may serve a unificatory role in the philosophy of the natural sciences since it captures not only the explanatory practice of biology, but of all natural sciences. Towards the end we will briefly come back to the notion of a potentiality in biology

Characterization and comparison of lesions on ornamental sweetpotato 'Blackie', tomato 'Maxifort', interspecific geranium 'Caliente Coral', and bat-faced cuphea 'Tiny Mice'.

Many plant species are prone to physiological disorders in which lesions develop on the leaf tissue. Nomenclature for such lesions has included intumescences, excrescences, neoplasms, galls, genetic tumors, enations, and oedemata. Interchangeably using these terms causes confusion as to whether these names refer to the same or different disorders. Two of the most commonly used names are oedema and intumescence. The objective of this research was to characterize the development of lesions on ornamental sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum ‘Maxifort’), interspecific hybrid geranium(Pelargonium· ‘CalienteCoral’), and bat-faced cuphea (Cuphea llavea ‘TinyMice’) to determine similarities and differences in morphology and nomenclature among these physiological disorders. Light microscopy was used to characterize differences in cross-sectional height, width, and area of lesions on each species. Additionally, leaf tissue samples were embedded in paraffin, and 10-mm cross-sections were stained with Toluidine blue O and observed using light microscopy to identify specific cell layers involved with lesion development. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and digital photography were used to observe the microscopic and macroscopic stages of lesion development, respectively, on each species. The lesions observed on ornamental sweetpotato were significantly greater in height and area than on the other three species, whereas tomato lesions were significantly greater in width. Lesions on ornamental sweetpotato and bat-faced cuphea occurred predominantly on the adaxial surface of the leaf, whereas lesions on geraniumand tomato occurred predominantly on the abaxial surface.With lesions on tomato, ornamental sweetpotato, and bat-faced cuphea, the epidermis was often subjected to the same hypertrophy apparent in the underlying parenchyma cells, ultimately allowing for greater cell expansion. However, in geranium, the epidermis resisted the expansion of the underlying cells, resulting in the eventual tearing of this tissue layer. Previous research indicates that lesion development on geranium is closely related to water status within the plant and may result in a wound response or provide a means of facilitated gas exchange. On the contrary, development of lesions on ornamental sweetpotato and tomato is believed to involve light quality. Based on these results and observations, two disorders occur across these species. The term "intumescence’’ should be used when referring to abnormal lesions on ornamental sweetpotato and tomato, and the term ‘‘oedema’’ should be used when referring to lesions on geranium. The term ‘‘intumescence’’ should also be used when referring to bat-faced cuphea lesions resulting from the morphological and anatomical aspects of these lesions closely resembling development on ornamental sweetpotato and tomato. Future research should investigate the role of light quality regarding development on this species

Clinical significance of perioperative Q-wave myocardial infarction: The Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial

AbstractObjective: The primary end point of the Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial was a composite of three events: death, Q-wave infarction, and a new large defect on 3-year postoperative thallium scan. This study examines the clinical significance of Q-wave infarction in the surgical cohort (194 patients) of the Emory trial. Methods: Twenty patients (10.3%) with Q-wave infarctions were identified: 13 patients had inferior Q-wave infarctions and seven patients had anterior, lateral, septal, or posterior Q-wave infarctions (termed anterior Q-wave infarctions). Results: In the inferior Q-wave infarction group, postoperative cardiac catheterization (at 1 year or 3 years) in 11 patients revealed normal ejection fraction (ejection fraction >55%) in 10 (91%), no wall motion abnormalities in 10 (91%), and all grafts patent in 10 (91%). In the anterior Q-wave infarction group, postoperative catheterizatiOn in six patients revealed normal ejection fractions in five (83%), no wall motion abnormalities in three (50%), and all grafts patent in three (50%). Average peak postoperative creatine kinase MB levels were as follows: no Q-wave infarction (n = 174) 37 ± 43 IU/L, inferior Q-wave infarction 40 ± 27 IU/L, and anterior Q-wave infarction 58 ± 38 IU/L. Mortality in the 20 patients with Q-wave infarctions was 5% (1/20) at 3 years; in patients without a Q-wave infarction it was 6.3% (11/174) (p = 0.64). Of 17 patients with a Q-wave infarction who underwent postoperative catheterization, 11 (65%) had a normal ejection fraction, normal wall motion, and all grafts patent with an uneventful 3-year postoperative course. Conclusions: The core laboratory screening of postoperative electrocardiograms, particularly in the case of inferior Q-wave infarctions, appears to identify a number of patients as having a Q-wave infarction with minimal clinical significance. Q-wave infarction identified in the postoperative period seems to be a weak end point with little prognostic significance and therefore not valuable for future randomized trials. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1996;112:1447-54

Prediction and Topological Models in Neuroscience

In the last two decades, philosophy of neuroscience has predominantly focused on explanation. Indeed, it has been argued that mechanistic models are the standards of explanatory success in neuroscience over, among other things, topological models. However, explanatory power is only one virtue of a scientific model. Another is its predictive power. Unfortunately, the notion of prediction has received comparatively little attention in the philosophy of neuroscience, in part because predictions seem disconnected from interventions. In contrast, we argue that topological predictions can and do guide interventions in science, both inside and outside of neuroscience. Topological models allow researchers to predict many phenomena, including diseases, treatment outcomes, aging, and cognition, among others. Moreover, we argue that these predictions also offer strategies for useful interventions. Topology-based predictions play this role regardless of whether they do or can receive a mechanistic interpretation. We conclude by making a case for philosophers to focus on prediction in neuroscience in addition to explanation alone

Compare and Contrast: How to Assess the Completeness of Mechanistic Explanation

Opponents of the new mechanistic account of scientific explanation argue that the new mechanists are committed to a ‘More Details Are Better’ claim: adding details about the mechanism always improves an explanation. Due to this commitment, the mechanistic account cannot be descriptively adequate as actual scientific explanations usually leave out details about the mechanism. In reply to this objection, defenders of the new mechanistic account have highlighted that only adding relevant mechanistic details improves an explanation and that relevance is to be determined relative to the phenomenon-to-be-explained. Craver and Kaplan (B J Philos Sci 71:287–319, 2020) provide a thorough reply along these lines specifying that the phenomena at issue are contrasts. In this paper, we will discuss Craver and Kaplan’s reply. We will argue that it needs to be modified in order to avoid three problems, i.e., what we will call the Odd Ontology Problem, the Multiplication of Mechanisms Problem, and the Ontic Completeness Problem. However, even this modification is confronted with two challenges: First, it remains unclear how explanatory relevance is to be determined for contrastive explananda within the mechanistic framework. Second, it remains to be shown as to how the new mechanistic account can avoid what we will call the ‘Vertical More Details are Better’ objection. We will provide answers to both challenges