Looking Beyond Looks: Comments on Sloutsky, Kloos, and Fisher (2007)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75080/1/j.1467-9280.2007.01937.x.pd

Is It Rational to Assume that Infants Imitate Rationally? A Theoretical Analysis and Critique

It has been suggested that preverbal infants evaluate the efficiency of others' actions (by applying a principle of rational action) and that they imitate others' actions rationally. The present contribution presents a conceptual analysis of the claim that preverbal infants imitate rationally. It shows that this ability rests on at least three assumptions: that infants are able to perceive others' action capabilities, that infants reason about and conceptually represent their own bodies, and that infants are able to think counterfactually. It is argued that none of these three abilities is in place during infancy. Furthermore, it is shown that the idea of a principle of rational action suffers from two fallacies. As a consequence, is it suggested that it is not rational to assume that infants imitate rationally. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Hierarchy of Scales in Language Dynamics

Methods and insights from statistical physics are finding an increasing variety of applications where one seeks to understand the emergent properties of a complex interacting system. One such area concerns the dynamics of language at a variety of levels of description, from the behaviour of individual agents learning simple artificial languages from each other, up to changes in the structure of languages shared by large groups of speakers over historical timescales. In this Colloquium, we survey a hierarchy of scales at which language and linguistic behaviour can be described, along with the main progress in understanding that has been made at each of them − much of which has come from the statistical physics community. We argue that future developments may arise by linking the different levels of the hierarchy together in a more coherent fashion, in particular where this allows more effective use of rich empirical data sets

Ensaio de dissolução de cápsulas de fluconazol: problemas encontrados na determinação por espectrofotometria na região do UV

<p align="justify">Entre as classes terapêuticas analisadas no Programa Nacional de Verificação da Qualidade de Medicamentos (PROVEME), o antifúngico fluconazol constava na apresentação de cápsulas de diferentes procedências. Na realização dos ensaios de dissolução conforme as técnicas dos fabricantes, constatou-se que os valores obtidos por espectrofotometria-UV foram superiores aos obtidos nos ensaios de teor e uniformidade de conteúdo, cuja determinação foi por CLAE-UV. Considerando este fato, foi objetivo deste trabalho realizar o ensaio de dissolução destas amostras pelos respectivos métodos dos fabricantes e o quantitativo do ensaio por espectrofotometria no UV e por CLAE-UV, a fim de avaliar as possíveis interferências dos excipientes nestas determinações. Os valores obtidos por espectrofotometria foram superiores aos obtidos por CLAE, confirmando a interferência dos excipientes. Concluiu-se que a metodologia a ser empregada na análise de fármacos deve ser criteriosamente selecionada, a fim de evitar resultados não condizentes com a real formulação do produto. Palavras-chave: cápsulas de fluconazol, CLAE, dissolução, espectrofotometria. ABSTRACT Among the therapeutic classes analyzed in the Programa Nacional de Verificação da Qualidade de Medicamentos (PROVEME) consisted the antifungal fluconazole in the dosage form of capsules from different origins. In dissolution tests, according to manufacturers techniques, it was found that the values obtained by UV-spectrophotometry were higher than those obtained from tests of content and content uniformity, whose determination was by HPLC-UV. Considering this fact, the objective of this study was to perform the dissolution test of these samples by the respective manufacturers methods and the quantitative assay by UV-spectrophotometry and HPLC-UV, to evaluate possible interferences of excipients in these determinations. The values obtained by spectrophotometry were higher than those obtained by HPLC, confirming the excipients interference. It was concluded that the methodology to be employed in drug analysis should be carefully selected in order to avoid results not commensurate with the real product formulation. Keywords: Fluconazole capsules. HPLC-UV. Spectrophotometry, dissolution.</p&gt