Proposing a new focus for the study of natural and artificial cognitive systems

In the study of systems the function of the system is often a good hint to how it works. In the following paper I would like to suggest that in studying or modeling a cognitive system our pre-knowledge of their functions should be treated carefully. We should focus on the statistical distribution of the system's environment and the ways this distribution affects the behavior and development of the cognitive system. I will show an example of how such a focus changes the view of the immune system. I would also like to show how this new outlook on the study of cognitive systems could affect attempts at creating artifcial cognitive system

The immune system and other cognitive systems

In the following pages we propose a theory on cognitive systems and the common strategies of perception, which are at the basis of their function. We demonstrate that these strategies are easily seen to be in place in known cognitive systems such as vision and language. Furthermore we show that taking these strategies into consideration implies a new outlook on immune function calling for a new appraisal of the immune system as a cognitive system

Perspectives on Contemporary Literature: Literature and the Other Arts

Today’s music, painting, and film share with literature in the development of a new aesthetic, even as these other arts influence (and are influenced by) literary themes and structures. And at the same time the music and art of the past continue to re-echo in twentieth-century letters. The thirteen essays gathered here open a fine and varied view of the ways in which contemporary literature interacts with the other arts. Surrealism in French painting and literature, collage theory and the cutups of William Burroughs, texts of Butor as shaped by works of Duchamp—this volume offers a rich harvest of perceptive studies on these and other aspects of a fascinating topic. David Hershberg is director of the Center for International Studies and Programs at the University of Louisville.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_comparative_literature/1003/thumbnail.jp

Perspectives on Contemporary Literature: Literature and the Historical Process

In all parts of the world and in every age, many of the greatest works of literature have been shaped or inspired by the swirl of historical events. The wars, holocausts, and mushroom clouds of our own era haunt the pages of many twentieth-century writers; events of the past, even the remote past, also inspire many authors, though their work is contemporary in every way. And if we agree with the poet Czeslaw Milosz that “historicity may reveal itself in a detail of architecture, in the shaping of a landscape,” we come to recognize that our understanding of a given poem or novel can often be deepened by a reading from this point of view. The essayists in Literature and the Historical Process explore the ways in which history and literature are intertwined in the works of a number of twentieth-century writers. These probing critical readings from the historical point of view not only enlighten us about the works under consideration but, especially when taken together, enrich our understanding of the literary impulse itself. In “Nature, History, and Art in Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘Brazil, January 1, 1502,’“ for example, Barbara Page shows how Bishop “used and rearranged” knowledge derived from her study of Brazil’s history. Page’s somewhat feminist reading may surprise those who find Bishop’s poetic persona hard to identify. Among the other authors considered are Jorge Luis Borges, Michel de Ghelderode, Elizabeth Bowen, Rose Macauley, Anthony Burgess, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Cesare Pavese, and Czeslaw Milosz. David Hershberg is director of the Center for International Studies and Programs at the University of Louisville.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_comparative_literature/1002/thumbnail.jp

Interdisciplinary research at the Philadelphia social history project: analytic goals, data and data manipulation strategies for the study of the nineteenth-century industrial city

Der Autor benennt strukturelle und institutionelle Schwierigkeiten für eine kollektive und interdisziplinäre Forschung in den USA. Das Philadelphia Social History Project (PSHP) wird als Beispiel der Entwicklung einer gemeinsamen maschinenlesbaren Datenbasis vorgestellt. Der Autor stellt die Quellenlage und die Datenbearbeitung durch das Projekt vor, wie auch analytischen Ziele. Forschungsbereiche des Projekts sind: Natur der Arbeit; Gebrauch der städtischen Region; Entwicklungen im Verlauf des Lebens und Erfahrungen bestimmter Bevölkerungsgruppen. Abschließend plädiert der Autor für eine verstärkte Kooperation im Bereich der historischen Forschung. (BG

Consejos as a Family Process in Transnational and Mixed-Status Mayan Families

This article describes a constructivist grounded theory study about cross-border relationships within Mayan families divided between the United States and Guatemala. Nine families participated, and each included a U.S.-based undocumented migrant parent and a Guatemala-based adolescent and caregiver. Findings pertaining to the family process of consejos—defined as a communication practice in Latino families wherein older family members pass on conventional wisdom to younger family members—are discussed. Although consejos has been identified as an important cultural practice in Latino families, it has rarely been examined in Mayan families or explored as an important aspect of transnational family relationships. Findings suggest that for some transnational and mixed-status Mayan families, consejos has become an important family process and a way in which migrant parents maintain a presence in their children\u27s lives despite being physically separated. Implications for future research with transnational migrant families, and Mayan families in particular, are discussed

Iran and Turkmenistan : significant bilateral construction and cooperation in Central Asia?

The primary purpose of this thesis is to offer a policy analysis of bilateral agreements, between Iran and Turkmenistan from late 1991 to the summer of 1994, the main focus of which is to identify possible gaps between theory and practice or policy making and policy implemelltation. My hope is to add to our knowledge of the little understood, but nonetheless significant, Central Asian countries and their emerging relationships with neighboring countries. The approach of this paper is based on an extensive chronology, consisting of numerous, detailed examples of cooperation, agreements, contracts, proposals, construction, and other aspects of infrastructure between Iran and Turkmenistan. The majority of the data is found in the Foreign Broadcast Information Service publication (FBIS) and in the various libraries and sources on Lexis/Nexis. As of the summer of 1994, I have demonstrated that there is a significant gap between theory and practice or policy making and policy implementation with respect to bilateral infrastructure agreements and other cooperation agreements between Iran and Turkmenistan

Strong Purifying Selection at Synonymous Sites in D. melanogaster

Synonymous sites are generally assumed to be subject to weak selective constraint. For this reason, they are often neglected as a possible source of important functional variation. We use site frequency spectra from deep population sequencing data to show that, contrary to this expectation, 22% of four-fold synonymous (4D) sites in D. melanogaster evolve under very strong selective constraint while few, if any, appear to be under weak constraint. Linking polymorphism with divergence data, we further find that the fraction of synonymous sites exposed to strong purifying selection is higher for those positions that show slower evolution on the Drosophila phylogeny. The function underlying the inferred strong constraint appears to be separate from splicing enhancers, nucleosome positioning, and the translational optimization generating canonical codon bias. The fraction of synonymous sites under strong constraint within a gene correlates well with gene expression, particularly in the mid-late embryo, pupae, and adult developmental stages. Genes enriched in strongly constrained synonymous sites tend to be particularly functionally important and are often involved in key developmental pathways. Given that the observed widespread constraint acting on synonymous sites is likely not limited to Drosophila, the role of synonymous sites in genetic disease and adaptation should be reevaluated

Co-evolution of transcription factors and their targets depends on mode of regulation

BACKGROUND: Differences in the transcription regulation network are at the root of much of the phenotypic variation observed among organisms. These differences may be achieved either by changing the repertoire of regulators and/or their targets, or by rewiring the network. Following these changes and studying their logic is crucial for understanding the evolution of regulatory networks. RESULTS: We use the well characterized transcription regulatory network of Escherichia coli K12 and follow the evolutionary changes in the repertoire of regulators and their targets across a large number of fully sequenced γ-proteobacteria. By focusing on close relatives of E. coli K12, we study the dynamics of the evolution of transcription regulation across a relatively short evolutionary timescale. We show significant differences in the evolution of repressors and activators. Repressors are only lost from a genome once their targets have themselves been lost, or once the network has significantly rewired. In contrast, activators are often lost even when their targets remain in the genome. As a result, E. coli K12 repressors that regulate many targets are rarely absent from organisms that are closely related to E. coli K12, while activators with a similar number of targets are often absent in these organisms. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate that the mode of regulation exerted by transcription factors has a strong effect on their evolution. Repressors co-evolve tightly with their target genes. In contrast, activators can be lost independently of their targets. In fact, loss of an activator can lead to efficient shutdown of an unnecessary pathway