Individualidad en la teoría spinoziana de la eternidad de la Mente = La question de l’individualité dans la théorie de l’esprit de Spinoza

La teoría spinoziana de la eternidad de la mente, tal como se expresa en E 5P23, ha sido durante mucho tiempo confundida con una teoría de la inmortalidad del alma; pero comentadores más recientes tienden hacia el extremo opuesto al mantener que todas las almas, consideradas después de la muerte de sus objetos y sub specie aeternitatis, deben ser de alguna manera idénticas. Esta posición, actualmente estándar, debe ser revisada con el fin de poner de manifiesto que la propia teoría del conocimiento de Spinoza obliga a afirmar que lo que eternamente -sempiternamente- ‘permanece’ del alma es de algún modo individualizado. Retomando la distinción entre el aspecto eterno de la mente, que se da aun durante la vida de un individuo, y la mente existente entendida sub duratione, sostendré que el argumento habitual en la literatura sólo vale para la mente sub specie aeternitatis, que es la idea adecuada de cualquier cuerpo que hay en Dios. Pero en un alma que forma ideas verdaderas y adecuadas, i.e. en una mente humana racional, se puede aseverar que a lo largo de su vida se concibe un nuevo conjunto de ideas, y que es este nuevo grupo de ideas lógicamente relacionadas, típicas de un individuo dado, lo que permanece eternamente después de la muerte del cuerpo (y de su alma correspondiente). A esto se agrega que hay en Spinoza varios pasajes que muestran que existe una diferencia esencial, ontológica entre una esencia posible indeterminada y una esencia que llega a la existencia en el mundo actual. Es por tanto posible concebir que la teoría de Spinoza podría admitir la idea que la vida de una mente cambia esta esencia, esto es, que la existencia aporta una determinación particular a la idea de un cuerpo tal como es en Dios antes, y después de que ha llegado a existir. Spinoza’s theory of the eternity of the mind, as it is expressed in E 5P23, has long been confused with a theory of the mind’s immortality, but more recent commentators tend to go to the other extreme by maintaining that all minds, considered after the death of their objects and “sub specie aeternitatis,” must somehow be identical. This now standard position must be revisited in order to see that Spinoza’s theory of knowledge itself obliges one to hold that what eternally -sempiternally-“remains” of the mind is individualized in some way. Recalling the distinction between the eternal aspect of the mind, which is given even during one’s lifetime, and the existing mind understood “sub duratione,” I shall claim that the common argument found in literature onlyapplies to the mind sub specie aeternitatis, which is the adequate idea that God has of any body. But in a mind that forms true and adequate ideas, i.e., in a rational human mind, it may be held that a new set of ideas is conceived during its life-time, and that it is this new group of logically-linked ideas, typical of a given individual, which is what eternally remains after the body’s (and the corresponding mind’s) death. In addition, Spinoza has several passages that show that there is an essential, ontological difference between an undetermined possibleessence and an essence that has come to exist in the actual world. It is thus possible to conceive that Spinoza’s theory could accept the idea that the life of a mind changes this essence, that is, that existence gives a particular determination to the idea of a body as it is in God before, and after it has come to exist

All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures

The interplay of light and magnetism has been a topic of interest since the original observations of Faraday and Kerr where magnetic materials affect the light polarization. While these effects have historically been exploited to use light as a probe of magnetic materials there is increasing research on using polarized light to alter or manipulate magnetism. For instance deterministic magnetic switching without any applied magnetic fields using laser pulses of the circular polarized light has been observed for specific ferrimagnetic materials. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, optical control of ferromagnetic materials ranging from magnetic thin films to multilayers and even granular films being explored for ultra-high-density magnetic recording. Our finding shows that optical control of magnetic materials is a much more general phenomenon than previously assumed. These results challenge the current theoretical understanding and will have a major impact on data memory and storage industries via the integration of optical control of ferromagnetic bits.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure

Spectrum of the Nuclear Environment for GaAs Spin Qubits

Using a singlet-triplet spin qubit as a sensitive spectrometer of the GaAs nuclear spin bath, we demonstrate that the spectrum of Overhauser noise agrees with a classical spin diffusion model over six orders of magnitude in frequency, from 1 mHz to 1 kHz, is flat below 10 mHz, and falls as $1/f^2$ for frequency $f \! \gtrsim \! 1$ Hz. Increasing the applied magnetic field from 0.1 T to 0.75 T suppresses electron-mediated spin diffusion, which decreases spectral content in the $1/f^2$ region and lowers the saturation frequency, each by an order of magnitude, consistent with a numerical model. Spectral content at megahertz frequencies is accessed using dynamical decoupling, which shows a crossover from the few-pulse regime ($\lesssim \! 16$ $\pi$-pulses), where transverse Overhauser fluctuations dominate dephasing, to the many-pulse regime ($\gtrsim \! 32$ $\pi$-pulses), where longitudinal Overhauser fluctuations with a $1/f$ spectrum dominate.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 8 pages of supplementary material, 5 supplementary figure

Preparation and biological evaluation of synthetic and polymer-encapsulated congeners of the antitumor agent pactamycin: Insight into functional group effects and biological activity

The synthesis and biological analysis of a number of novel congeners of the aminocyclopentitol pactamycin is described. Specific attention was paid to the preparation of derivatives at crucial synthetic branch points of the parent structure, and biological assays revealed a number of insights into the source of pactamycin’s biological activity. Additionally, the encapsulation of pactamycin and select derivatives into the PRINT© nanoparticle technology was investigated as a proof-of-concept, and evidence of bioactivity modulation through nanoparticle delivery is demonstrated. This work has provided heretofore unrealized access to a large number of novel compounds for further evaluation

Mindful Aging: The Effects of Regular Brief Mindfulness Practice on Electrophysiological Markers of Cognitive and Affective Processing in Older Adults

There is growing interest in the potential benefits of mindfulness meditation practices in terms of counteracting some of the cognitive effects associated with aging. Pursuing this question, the aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of mindfulness training on executive control and emotion regulation in older adults, by means of studying behavioral and electrophysiological changes. Participants, 55 to 75 years of age, were randomly allocated to an 8-week mindful breath awareness training group or an active control group engaging in brain training exercises. Before and after the training period, participants completed an emotional-counting Stroop task, designed to measure attentional control and emotion regulation processes. Concurrently, their brain activity was measured by means of 64-channel electroencephalography. The results show that engaging in just over 10 min of mindfulness practice five times per week resulted in significant improvements in behavioral (response latency) and electrophysiological (N2 event-related potential) measures related to general task performance. Analyses of the underlying cortical sources (Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography, VARETA) indicate that this N2-related effect is primarily associated with changes in the right angular gyrus and other areas of the dorsal attention network. However, the study did not find the expected specific improvements in executive control and emotion regulation, which may be due to the training instructions or the relative brevity of the intervention. Overall, the results indicate that engaging in mindfulness meditation training improves the maintenance of goal-directed visuospatial attention and may be a useful strategy for counteracting cognitive decline associated with aging

Plant-symbiotic fungi as chemical engineers: multi-genome analysis of the Clavicipitaceae reveals dynamics of alkaloid Loci

The fungal family Clavicipitaceae includes plant symbionts and parasites that produce several psychoactive and bioprotective alkaloids. The family includes grass symbionts in the epichloae clade (Epichloë and Neotyphodium species), which are extraordinarily diverse both in their host interactions and in their alkaloid profiles. Epichloae produce alkaloids of four distinct classes, all of which deter insects, and some—including the infamous ergot alkaloids—have potent effects on mammals. The exceptional chemotypic diversity of the epichloae may relate to their broad range of host interactions, whereby some are pathogenic and contagious, others are mutualistic and vertically transmitted (seed-borne), and still others vary in pathogenic or mutualistic behavior. We profiled the alkaloids and sequenced the genomes of 10 epichloae, three ergot fungi (Claviceps species), a morning-glory symbiont (Periglandula ipomoeae), and a bamboo pathogen (Aciculosporium take), and compared the gene clusters for four classes of alkaloids. Results indicated a strong tendency for alkaloid loci to have conserved cores that specify the skeleton structures and peripheral genes that determine chemical variations that are known to affect their pharmacological specificities. Generally, gene locations in cluster peripheries positioned them near to transposon-derived, AT-rich repeat blocks, which were probably involved in gene losses, duplications, and neofunctionalizations. The alkaloid loci in the epichloae had unusual structures riddled with large, complex, and dynamic repeat blocks. This feature was not reflective of overall differences in repeat contents in the genomes, nor was it characteristic of most other specialized metabolism loci. The organization and dynamics of alkaloid loci and abundant repeat blocks in the epichloae suggested that these fungi are under selection for alkaloid diversification. We suggest that such selection is related to the variable life histories of the epichloae, their protective roles as symbionts, and their associations with the highly speciose and ecologically diverse cool-season grasses

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms