Formal representation of proper names in accordance with a descriptive theory of reference

In this paper I present a way of formally representing proper names in accordance with a description theory of reference-fixing and show that such a representation makes it possible to retain the claim about the rigidity of proper names and is not vulnerable to Kripke’s modal objection

All the superhero’s names

In this paper I concern myself with The Superman Puzzle (the phenomenon of the substitution failure of co-referential proper names in simple sentences). I argue that the descriptive content associated with proper names, besides determining the proper name’s reference, function as truth-conditionally relevant adjuncts which can be used to express a manner, reason, goal, time or purpose of action. In that way a sentence with a proper name "NN is doing something" could be understood as "NN is doing something as NN" (which means "as-so-and-so"). I argue that the substitution of names can fail on modified readings because the different descriptive content of proper names modifies the main predicate differently. Here I present a formal representation of modified predicates which allows one to model intuitively the different truth-conditions of sentences from The Puzzle

In defence of a descriptive theory of reference for proper names : part I. A response to Kripke’s modal and epistemic arguments

W artykule tym bronię nieklasycznej deskrypcyjnej teorii odniesienia nazw własnych przed zarzutami Kripkego. Uważam, że informacja deskryptywna wiązana przez użytkowników z nazwą własną pełni funkcję semantyczną, dlatego nie może być pominięta w semantyce nazw. Nie bronię żadnej konkretnej wersji deskryptywizmu, tylko ogólnych założeń, w oparciu o które można zbudować różne rozwinięcia deskrypcyjnej teorii nazw. W pierwszej części artykułu przedstawię wyjaśnienie, czym jest deskryptywizm, wytłumaczę, w jaki sposób uwzględnianie parametru czasu wpływa na formułowanie tez deskryptywizmu, wytłumaczę też, dlaczego deskrypcyjnej teorii odniesienia nie dotyczy zarzut modalny, sformułuję tezy bronionej wersji deskryptywizmu oraz odpowiem na zarzut epistemiczny. W drugiej części artykułu (w następnym numerze) przedstawię odpowiedź na poszczególne wątki zarzutu semantycznego oraz pokażę, że broniona wersja ma zalety tradycyjnie przypisywane teoriom deskrypcyjnym.In this article, I defend a non-classical version of descriptive theory of reference-fixing for proper names against objections raised by Kripke. I consider that descriptive information associated by speakers with a proper name has semantic value and thus should be taken into account by any theory of proper names. I do not defend any one descriptive theory in particular, only general assumptions that can underpin different elaborations of a descriptive theory of names. In the first part of this paper, I will briefly explain the notion of descriptivism and how taking temporal parameters into account influences the formulation of the theses of descriptivism. Next I will explain why Kripke’s modal objection does not apply to a descriptive theory of reference-fixing, I formulate assumptions of the descriptive theory defended in this paper and respond to Kripke’s epistemic objection. In the second part (to be published in the next issue), I respond to particular strands of Kripke’s semantic objection and show that the defended version has all the virtues traditionally associated with descriptive theories

The descriptive content of names as predicate modifiers

In this paper I argue that descriptive content associated with a proper name can serve as a truth-conditionally relevant adjunct and be an additional contribution of the name to the truth-conditions. Definite descriptions the so-and-so associated by speakers with a proper name can be used as qualifying prepositional phrases as so-and-so, so sentences containing a proper name NN is doing something could be understood as NN is doing something as NN (which means as so-and-so). Used as an adjunct, the descriptive content of a proper name expresses the additional circumstances of an action (a manner, reason, goal, time or purpose) and constitute a part of a predicate. I argue that qualifying prepositional phrases should be analyzed as predicate modifiers and propose a formal representation of modified predicates. The additional truth-conditional relevance of the descriptive content of a proper name helps to explain the phenomenon of the substitution failure of coreferential names in simple sentences

Preamplification techniques for real-time RT-PCR analyses of endomyocardial biopsies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Due to the limited RNA amounts from endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) and low expression levels of certain genes, gene expression analyses by conventional real-time RT-PCR are restrained in EMBs. We applied two preamplification techniques, the TaqMan^®PreAmp Master Mix (T-PreAmp) and a multiplex preamplification following a sequence specific reverse transcription (SSRT-PreAmp).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>T-PreAmp encompassing 92 gene assays with 14 cycles resulted in a mean improvement of 7.24 ± 0.33 Ct values. The coefficients for inter- (1.89 ± 0.48%) and intra-assay variation (0.85 ± 0.45%) were low for all gene assays tested (<4%). The PreAmp uniformity values related to the reference gene CDKN1B for 91 of the investigated gene assays (except for CD56) were -0.38 ± 0.33, without significant differences between self-designed and ABI inventoried Taqman^®gene assays. Only two of the tested Taqman^®ABI inventoried gene assays (HPRT-ABI and CD56) did not maintain PreAmp uniformity levels between -1.5 and +1.5. In comparison, the SSRT-PreAmp tested on 8 self-designed gene assays yielded higher Ct improvement (9.76 ± 2.45), however was not as robust regarding the maintenance of PreAmp uniformity related to HPRT-CCM (-3.29 ± 2.40; p < 0.0001), and demonstrated comparable intra-assay CVs (1.47 ± 0.74), albeit higher inter-assay CVs (5.38 ± 2.06; p = 0.01). Comparing EMBs from each 10 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and inflammatory cardiomyopathy (DCMi), T-PreAmp real-time RT-PCR analyses revealed differential regulation regarding 27 (30%) of the investigated 90 genes related to both HPRT-CCM and CDKN1B. Ct values of HPRT and CDKN1B did not differ in equal RNA amounts from explanted DCM and donor hearts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In comparison to the SSRT-PreAmp, T-PreAmp enables a relatively simple workflow, and results in a robust PreAmp of multiple target genes (at least 92 gene assays as tested here) by a mean Ct improvement around 7 cycles, and in a lower inter-assay variance in RNA derived from EMBs. Preliminary analyses comparing EMBs from DCM and DCMi patients, revealing differential regulation regarding 30% of the investigated genes, confirm that T-PreAmp is a suitable tool to perform gene expression analyses in EMBs, expanding gene expression investigations with the limited RNA/cDNA amounts derived from EMBs. CDKN1B, in addition to its function as a reference gene for the calculation of PreAmp uniformity, might serve as a suitable housekeeping gene for real-time RT-PCR analyses of myocardial tissues.</p

Semantics of proper names : in defense of a descriptivism

Tematem pracy jest obrona deskrypcyjnej teorii odniesienia nazw własnych. Bronię szczególnej wersji deskryptywizmu, która dopuszcza obecność wyrażeń okazjonalnych teraz, obecny w deskrypcjach oraz w której wymóg wiedzy wymaganej od użytkowników języka jest osłabiony: wymagana jest znajomość deskrypcji, która wyznacza ten sam przedmiot, co deskrypcja ustalająca odniesienie nazwy, jedynie w jakimś momencie czasowym, niekoniecznie tym samym, w którym użytkownik zna nazwę. Takie osłabienie wymogu wiedzy pozwoliło odpowiedzieć na zarzuty semantyczne i epistemiczne Kripkego oraz zachować za nazwami własnymi status sztywnych desygnatorów. Przedstawiłam sposób konstruowania formalnych odpowiedników nazw własnych zgodnie z założeniami deskrypcyjnej teorii odniesienia. Desygnowanie takich odpowiedników uzależnione jest od desygnowania deskrypcji, ale mimo tej zależności odpowiedniki takie desygnują sztywno. Związane z nazwami deskrypcje wykorzystałam do rozwiązania Łamigłówki z Supermanem (zablokowanej substytucji nazw w kontekstach ekstensjonalnych). Przyjęłam hipotezę, że deskryptywna treść nazw może pełnić rolę relewantnego prawdziwościowo okolicznika, czyli wyrażać okoliczności (czas, miejsce, sposób bądź przyczynę), w których dokonuje się pewna czynność. Okoliczniki potraktowałam jako modyfikatory predykatywne i przedstawiłam ich formalną reprezentację (semantyka konstrukcji przyimkowych z jako). Możliwość modyfikowania predykatów nazywania (nazywany „N” jako działający tak-a-tak) pozwoliła z kolei wytłumaczyć, czym w języku naturalnym różnią się pseudonimy od zwykłych nazw.The main goal of the thesis was to defend the descriptive theory of proper names taken as a theory of reference. I was defending a version of relational descriptivism with weaken knowledge requirement. To know a proper name at time t, a language user must know at a time t’ (which may be different from the time t) an identifying description which denote the same object as a reference-fixing description. Such weakening made this version of descriptivism resistant to Kripke’s objections and allowed to treat proper names as rigid designators. I proposed to represent proper names formally as semantically complex terms which designate an object rigidly via a set of special descriptions. Every description in a set contains a distinguished predicate named "N", where "N" is a sound or an inscription. This formal representation allowed me to solve The Superman Puzzle (the phenomenon of substitution failure which occurs when a change from one co-referential name to another (e.g. from Superman to Clark Kent) affects the truth-value of a sentence). I developed a hypothesis that the descriptive content of a proper name could behave as a truth-conditionally relevant adjunct and could modify a predicate (that is, could express truth-conditionally relevant circumstances of action named by the predicate (X is doing something as so-and-so)). I proposed a formal representation of modified predicates. Also I put an attention to the phenomenon that a predicate named “N” could be modified with a qualifying prepositional phrase (named “N” as so-and-so) and used this phenomenon to explain a way in which proper names differs from pseudonyms in the natural language

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as pH-Responsive Carrier for the Immune-Activating Drug Resiquimod Enhance the Local Immune Response in Mice

Nanoparticle-based delivery systems for cancer immunotherapies aim to improve the safety and efficacy of these treatments through local delivery to specialized antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Multifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), with their large surface areas, their tunable particle and pore sizes and their spatially controlled functionalization, represent a safe and versatile carrier system. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of MSNs as a pH-responsive drug carrier system for the anticancer immune-stimulant R848 (resiquimod), a synthetic Toll-like receptor 7 and 8 agonist. Equipped with a biotin-avidin-cap, the tailor-made nanoparticles showed efficient stimuli-responsive release of their R848 cargo in an environmental pH of 5.5 or below. We showed that the MSNs loaded with R848 were rapidly taken up by APCs into the acidic environment of the lysosome and that they potently activated the immune cells. Upon subcutaneous injection into mice, the particles accumulated in migratory dendritic cells (DCs) in the draining lymph nodes, where they strongly enhanced the activation of the DCs. Furthermore, simultaneous delivery of the model antigen OVA and the adjuvant R848 by MSNs resulted in an augmented antigen-specific T-cell response. The MSNs significantly improved the pharmacokinetic profile of R848 in mice, as the half-life of the drug was increased 6-fold, and at the same time, the systemic exposure was reduced. In summary, we demonstrate that MSNs represent a promising tool for targeted delivery of the immune-modulator R848 to APCs and hold considerable potential as a carrier for cancer vaccines