Conscious robots: what happens when a philosophical confusion becomes a societal reality?

This thesis is an investigation into philosophical issues surrounding the production of human-like robots. I will argue that there is no reason to think conscious robots will ever be built, but that supposedly conscious robots that are able to emulate consciously guided behaviour will cause severe problems for societies of the future. In chapter one, I look at the history of machines and robots and show how changing conceptions of the body, along with technological development, has led us to expect conscious robots. In chapter two, I look at some philosophical theories of mind – behaviourism, identity theory, functionalism, eliminativism - to see how they encourage the idea of conscious robots and conclude that functionalism is the theory which mainly does. In chapter three, I discuss the main objections to functionalism that have arisen in the literature and conclude they are mainly correct and cannot be answered. So, a robot that satisfies the functionalist theory of mind will only be a supposedly conscious robot. In chapter 4, I look at the main ethical theories of Western philosophy and conclude that they make the idea of robots as moral agents very dubious. In chapter 5, I look at the harm that supposedly conscious robots may inflict on societies of the future. Then finally in chapter 6, I argue that a Singularity will never happen – supposedly conscious robots will never outdo the intelligence of human beings

Reducing Uncertainty in Technology Selection for Long Life Cycle Engineering Designs

The best capabilities are usually achieved by having the latest technologies in defense systems. However, including the new, usually immature, technologies in a system design does not always easily result in achieving the capabilities at the right level, at an affordable cost, and in a timely manner. Many programs have suffered from immature technologies as cost overruns, late or no deliveries, and poor performance levels. Another impact of technology selection appears as obsolescence after the deployment of systems, or even before the deployment of the system. As the technologies of a system become obsolete, the cost of maintaining the system increases. Defense systems, which have longer sustainment life cycles, are more vulnerable to obsolescence of technologies. While obsolete technologies increase the cost of maintaining the military systems, they also impact the level of the superiority of the capabilities. In the current literature, several approaches have been proposed by different authors to address either the immature technology risk or the technology obsolescence risk. This study will make an effort to develop an approach which addresses the issue of technology selection for long life cycle defense systems that consider both the feasibility risk of immature technologies and obsolescence risk of technologies

Jean-François Kosta-Théfaine, Le Chant de la douleur dans les poésies de Christine de Pizan

Cet essai propose un examen du thème de la douleur dans les poésies de Christine de Pizan. On sait combien le deuil marque l’œuvre de Christine et est la clé de voûte de son entrée en écriture. Deuil triple en quelque sorte avec la disparition première du roi modèle, Charles V, puis du père Thomas de Bologne, enfin de l’époux, Étienne du Castel. Peu à peu s’effondre la stabilité matérielle de Christine et, selon ce qu’elle dit, son univers affectif, puisque – fait rare à l’époque – elle prése..

Ras Multimers on the Membrane: Many Ways for a Heart-to-Heart Conversation

Formation of Ras multimers, including dimers and nanoclusters, has emerged as an exciting, new front of research in the ‘old’ field of Ras biomedicine. With significant advances made in the past few years, we are beginning to understand the structure of Ras multimers and, albeit preliminary, mechanisms that regulate their formation in vitro and in cells. Here we aim to synthesize the knowledge accrued thus far on Ras multimers, particularly the presence of multiple globular (G-) domain interfaces, and discuss how membrane nanodomain composition and structure would influence Ras multimer formation. We end with some general thoughts on the potential implications of Ras multimers in basic and translational biology

In Silico Screening and Testing of FDA-Approved Small Molecules to Block SARS-CoV-2 Entry to the Host Cell by Inhibiting Spike Protein Cleavage

The COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, but it is still active. The development of an effective vaccine reduced the number of deaths; however, a treatment is still needed. Here, we aimed to inhibit viral entry to the host cell by inhibiting spike (S) protein cleavage by several proteases. We developed a computational pipeline to repurpose FDA-approved drugs to inhibit protease activity and thus prevent S protein cleavage. We tested some of our drug candidates and demonstrated a decrease in protease activity. We believe our pipeline will be beneficial in identifying a drug regimen for COVID-19 patients

Relation between Protein Intrinsic Normal Mode Weights and Pre-Existing Conformer Populations

Intrinsic fluctuations of a protein enable it to sample a large repertoire of conformers including the open and closed forms. These distinct forms of the protein called conformational substates pre-exist together in equilibrium as an ensemble independent from its ligands. The role of ligand might be simply to alter the equilibrium toward the most appropriate form for binding. Normal mode analysis is proved to be useful in identifying the directions of conformational changes between substates. In this study, we demonstrate that the ratios of normalized weights of a few normal modes driving the protein between its substates can give insights about the ratios of kinetic conversion rates of the substates, although a direct relation between the eigenvalues and kinetic conversion rates or populations of each substate could not be observed. The correlation between the normalized mode weight ratios and the kinetic rate ratios is around 83% on a set of 11 non-enzyme proteins and around 59% on a set of 17 enzymes. The results are suggestive that mode motions carry intrinsic relations with thermodynamics and kinetics of the proteins

Arl2-Mediated Allosteric Release of Farnesylated KRas4B from Shuttling Factor PDEδ

Proper localization of Ras proteins at the plasma membrane (PM) is crucial for their functions. To get to the PM, KRas4B and some other Ras family proteins bind to the PDEδ shuttling protein through their farnesylated hypervariable regions (HVRs). The docking of their farnesyl (and to a lesser extent geranylgeranyl) in the hydrophobic pocket of PDEδ’s stabilizes the interaction. At the PM, guanosine 5′-triphosphate (GTP)-bound Arf-like protein 2 (Arl2) assists in the release of Ras from the PDEδ. However, exactly how is still unclear. Using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we unraveled the detailed mechanism of Arl2-mediated release of KRas4B, the most abundant oncogenic Ras isoform, from PDEδ. We simulated ternary Arl2–PDEδ−KRas4B HVR complexes and observed that Arl2 binding weakens the PDEδ−farnesylated HVR interaction. Our detailed analysis showed that allosteric changes (involving β6 of PDEδ and additional PDEδ residues) compress the hydrophobic PDEδ pocket and push the HVR out. Mutating PDEδ residues that mediate allosteric changes in PDEδ terminates the release process. Mutant Ras proteins are enriched in human cancers, with currently no drugs in the clinics. This mechanistic account may inspire efforts to develop drugs suppressing oncogenic KRas4B release

Psychiatric morbidity and its effect on the quality of life of patients with chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C

Objective: The primary aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in a cohort of consecutive chronic hepatitis patients not receiving antiviral therapy. The secondary aim of our study was to determine if psychiatric morbidity, type of hepatitis, and the level of depression correlated with health-related quality of life (HRQL). Methods: The study was conducted in collaboration with Hepatology and Infectious Disease Clinics at three-major university hospitals. One hundred seven patients who met the criteria for being diagnosed with either chronic hepatitis B or C, had non-cirrhotic compensated liver disease, had not received antiviral treatment in the preceding 6 months, and had no accompanying physical illness were included in the study. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, the Short Form - 36 for measuring HRQL, and semi-structured interviews for assessing psychosocial variables were used. Sixty-seven healthy adults formed the control group. Results: 43.9% of the patients had hepatitis B, 56.1% hepatitis C. A psychiatric diagnosis was made in 48.6%, of which 15% was depression. No significant difference was found in the rate of psychiatric diagnosis between hepatitis B and hepatitis C patients. Hepatitis B and C patients were found to vary significantly (p < 0.001) from the control group on all subcategories of quality of life criteria. Psychiatric morbidity (mainly depression) was the major variable on lowering HRQL (p = 0.000). Conclusions: Chronic hepatitis B and C patients presented a high rate of psychiatric disorder. HRQL was significantly decreased in patients with psychiatric morbidity

Student Pharmacists Target the Million Hearts Initiative for Potentially at-risk Medicare Beneficiaries

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are sponsoring partners of Million Hearts, a national initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next 5 years. Million Hearts targets the ABCS of clinical prevention (appropriate Aspirin therapy, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation). Objective: This study measured ABCS outcomes and provided education to a Medicare population. Methods: Twelve healthcare outreach events were offered to Medicare beneficiaries in Northern/Central California between October and November 2012. Student pharmacists, under supervision of pharmacists, provided medication therapy management (MTM) services, along with blood pressure, cholesterol and other healthcare screenings with corresponding education. Data collection included beneficiary demographics, medication, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure and cholesterol measurement, and smoking status. Results: 586 beneficiaries received MTM services, with 286 (49%) reporting daily aspirin use. Of those with self-reported hypertension who had their blood pressure measured, 103/239 (43%) were uncontrolled (defined as SBP ≥ 140 or DBP ≥ 90). Of those without self-reported hypertension whose blood pressure was measured, 40/131 (31%) were uncontrolled. Four-hundred sixteen (86%) indicated having their cholesterol checked within the last year. Of the 204 beneficiaries in whom cholesterol was measured onsite, 49 (24%) had a total cholesterol level ≥ 200 mg/dL. In total 414 (71%) were non-smokers and 144 (25%) were former smokers. Conclusion: Student pharmacists can assist in identifying at-risk Medicare beneficiaries through ABCS health screenings and provide education to improve beneficiary outcomes