Book-Review of C. Koch, Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist

Book-revie

Neo-mechanistic explanatory integration for cognitive science: the problem of reduction remains

One of the central aims of the neo-mechanistic framework for the neural and cognitive sciences is to construct a pluralistic integration of scientific explanations, allowing for a weak explanatory autonomy of higher-level sciences, such as cognitive science. This integration involves understanding human cognition as information processing occurring in multi-level human neuro-cognitive mechanisms, explained by multi-level neuro-cognitive models. Strong explanatory neuro-cognitive reduction, however, poses a significant challenge to this pluralist ambition and the weak autonomy of cognitive science derived therefrom. Based on research in current molecular and cellular neuroscience, the framework holds that the best strategy for integrating human neuro-cognitive theories is through direct reductive explanations based on molecular and cellular neural processes. It is my aim to investigate whether the neo-mechanistic framework can meet the challenge. I argue that leading neo-mechanists offer some significant replies; however, they are not able yet to completely remove strong explanatory reductionism from their own framework

Michael Gazzaniga’s Neuro-cognitive Antireductionism and the Challenge of Neo-mechanistic Reduction

Michael Gazzaniga, a prominent cognitive neuroscientist, has argued against reductionist accounts of cognition. Instead, Gazzaniga defends a form of non-reductive physicalism: epistemological neuro-cognitive non-reductionism and ontological monist physicalism. His position is motivated by the theses that: (1) cognitive phenomena can be realized by multiple neural systems; (2) many outcomes of these systems are unpredictable; and (3) multi-level explanations are required. Epistemological neuro-cognitive non-reductionism is presented as the most appropriate stance to account for the way in which phenomena should be explained in cognitive neuroscience. In this paper, I argue, however, that a recent form of (ontological and epistemological) neuro-cognitive reductionism, namely neo-mechanistic reductionism accounts for the arguments presented by Gazzaniga. Thus, the theory offers a more consistent and well-articulated view of the relationship between cognitive and neural phenomena that is specifically compatible with the explanatory strategies and aims of contemporary cognitive neuroscience

PSICOLOGIA EMPÍRICA E ANTROPOLOGIA NO PENSAMENTO CRÍTICO DE KANT: A DÉCADA DE 1780

Apesar de a relação entre a psicologia empírica e a antropologia pragmática ser amplamente reconhecida na literatura especializada, não há consenso entre os pesquisadores a respeito da natureza exata dessa relação. O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de investigar este tema no pensamento crítico de Kant durante a década de 1780, de forma a contribuir para um maior esclarecimento sobre este ponto. Especificamente, buscamos compreender a afirmação de Kant, feita na Crítica da Razão Pura (1781), a respeito da inserção da psicologia empírica em uma antropologia pormenorizada. Nossa análise sugere que na década de 1780 é mantida a ligação entre a psicologia empírica e o ponto de vista teórico do conhecimento do homem. Essa ligação explica a afirmação de Kant. Ela significa que a psicologia empírica deve ser considerada antropologia escolástica (teórica) e deve ser mais bem desenvolvida de modo a constituir um campo de investigação autônomo. Além disso, mostramos que há também uma forte ligação entre os conhecimentos teóricos da psicologia empírica e a antropologia do ponto de vista pragmático

Laser Ablation in Liquid: An Unconventional, Fast, Clean and Straightforward Technique for Material Preparation

The laser ablation in liquid environment (LALE) technique is a straightforward experimental technique with few controllable parameters, capable to provide extreme pressure and temperature conditions during target ablation without the need for dedicated systems to provide those variables. Additionally, we can state that LALE can be considered a low-cost experimental technique, with few steps and a clean synthesis method, by which a wide variety of materials can be synthesized with high yield. The majority of studies published in the literature using this technique seem to be limited only to the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, nitrates and semiconducting. However, in order to extend the synthesis potential of this technique, in this chapter we are going to demonstrate that with the appropriate choice of reactants, solvent, target materials and the solid-liquid interface interactions we will be able to prepare more complex molecules such as carbonate compound Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs), highly dispersed CdS quantum dots and magnetic materials. Also for each material synthesized, we are going to propose a mechanism to explain its preparation using the LALE technique

Voluminoso quiste dentígero de mandíbula tratado en dos etapas quirúrgicas informe de caso

El quiste dentígero es una lesión benigna que se origina en el epitelio odontogénico asociado a la corona de un diente incluido. Son radiolúcidos y uniloculares, generalmente asintomáticos y diagnosticados en exámenes de rutina o exámenes radiográficos. Los terceros molares inferiores y los caninos superiores son los dientes más afectados, y esta lesión también ocurre en dientes supernumerarios o asociados a odontomas. De crecimiento lento puede alcanzar dimensiones considerables, provocando deformidad facial, impactación y desplazamiento de dientes y/o estructuras adyacentes. El objetivo de este trabajo es informar un caso clínico de un voluminoso quiste dentígero mandibular, que se trató quirúrgicamente en dos etapas: la primera intervención con fines de biopsia y descompresión de la lesión y la segunda con el objetivo de enuclear la cápsula remanente. De esta forma, fue posible realizar un diagnóstico preciso de la lesión, reducir su tamaño para permitir una enucleación total con un daño mínimo a las estructuras anatómicas circundantes y la preservación de la función neurosensorial. Se realizó el seguimiento del paciente durante un período de 5 años en el posoperatorio, y el caso evolucionó hasta la curación total

DESEMPENHO DE BOVINOS DE CORTE EM CONFINAMENTO ALIMENTADOS COM DIFERENTES FORRAGENS E ALOJADOS EM BAIAS INDIVIDUAIS OU COLETIVAS

As forragens desempenham um papel essencial no desempenho de bovinos de corte em confinamento. Vinte e quatro machos não castrados F1 Red Norte × Nelore com peso vivo médio (PV) inicial de 439,8 ± 59,6 kg e 21,7 ± 2,7 meses de idade foram distribuídos em três grupos experimentas e alojados em baias individuais (doze animais) ou coletivas (doze animais em três baias) no Setor de Bovinocultura da Fazenda-Escola do IF Goiano (Câmpus Iporá). O experimento teve duração de 84 dias (14 dias para adaptação e 70 dias para coleta de dados). Alimentaram-se os animais uma vez ao dia com dietas à base de cana-de-açúcar in natura (Ci), silagem de cana (SC) ou silagem de milho (SM) como fontes de forragem, procurando-se obter 10 a 15% de sobras. Avaliou-se o consumo de matéria seca (CMS) diariamente pela diferença entre a quantidade oferecida menos a recusada, e registrou-se o PV dos animais a cada 14 dias após jejum de sólidos de doze horas. Não houve efeito (P>0,05) da fonte de forragem sobre o CMS nos animais alojados nas baias individuais, assim como não houve resposta (P>0,05) da fonte de forragem sobre o PV. Houve tendência (P = 0,09) de aumento do PV nos animais alojados em baias individuais (561,4 ± 21,2 kg) em relação às baias coletivas (509 ± 21,2 kg). As fontes de forragem não alteraram (P>0,05) as características da carcaça. Os animais alojados nas baias individuais aumentaram (P<0,05) o peso do trato gastrintestinal vazio (11,9 kg), comparados aos animais alojados nas baias coletivas (10,2 kg). Houve tendência (0,05≤P≤0,10) de aumento do PV pré-abate, peso do trato gastrintestinal cheio e peso do fígado nos animais alojados em baias individuais, em comparação às baias coletivas A Ci, SC e SM podem ser recomendadas na alimentação de bovinos de corte em confinamento

Atualização das disciplinas de comunicação gráfica para engenharia seguindo a abordagem Project Based Learning (PBL)

The Engineering Graphics Communication disciplines of the Escola Politécnica of the Universidade de São Paulo have undergone constant reformulations over the years. The adoption of the Project-based Learning (PBL) approach seemed to fit perfectly the needs and objectives of such disciplines and has become a goal of the recent offerings. One of the main goals was to provide greater contact, and consequent motivation, of the first year students with subjects related to engineering, such as the design and fabrication of an object fulfilling a task. These students have entered a new environment to them, and most of the subjects of the first years do not contemplate content directly related to engineering. This report presents the data and circumstances most representative of this experience and is intended to be a stimulus and an aid to other disciplines wishing to pursue similar trailsAs disciplinas de Comunicação Gráfica para Engenharia da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo têm sofrido constantes reformulações ao longo dos anos. Adotar a abordagem do Aprendizado Baseado em Projetos (Project-based Learning – PBL) pareceu adequar-se perfeitamente às necessidades e aos objetivos de tais disciplinas e tornou-se uma meta dos últimos oferecimentos destas. Uma das principais metas foi proporcionar um maior contato, e consequente motivação, dos alunos do primeiro ano com assuntos mais relacionados à engenharia, como o projeto e a fabricação de um objeto que cumpre uma tarefa. Tais alunos ingressaram em um ambiente novo, e a maioria das disciplinas dos primeiros anos não contempla conteúdos mais diretamente ligados à engenharia. O presente relato apresenta os dados e as circunstâncias mais representativas dessa experiência e pretende ser um estímulo e uma ajuda a outras disciplinas que pretendam caminhar por trilhas semelhantes

Genomic history of coastal societies from eastern South America

Sambaqui (shellmound) societies are among the most intriguing archaeological phenomena in pre-colonial South America, extending from approximately 8,000 to 1,000 years before present (yr bp) across 3,000 km on the Atlantic coast. However, little is known about their connection to early Holocene hunter-gatherers, how this may have contributed to different historical pathways and the processes through which late Holocene ceramists came to rule the coast shortly before European contact. To contribute to our understanding of the population history of indigenous societies on the eastern coast of South America, we produced genome-wide data from 34 ancient individuals as early as 10,000 yr bp from four different regions in Brazil. Early Holocene hunter-gatherers were found to lack shared genetic drift among themselves and with later populations from eastern South America, suggesting that they derived from a common radiation and did not contribute substantially to later coastal groups. Our analyses show genetic heterogeneity among contemporaneous Sambaqui groups from the southeastern and southern Brazilian coast, contrary to the similarity expressed in the archaeological record. The complex history of intercultural contact between inland horticulturists and coastal populations becomes genetically evident during the final horizon of Sambaqui societies, from around 2,200 yr bp, corroborating evidence of cultural change

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016