Crossing the symbolic threshold: a critical review of Terrence Deacon's The Symbolic Species

Terrence Deacon's views about the origin of language are based on a particular notion of a symbol. While the notion is derived from Peirce's semiotics, it diverges from that source and needs to be investigated on its own terms in order to evaluate the idea that the human species has crossed the symbolic threshold. Deacon's view is defended from the view that symbols in the animal world are widespread and from the extreme connectionist view that they are not even to be found in humans. Deacon's treatment of symbols involves a form of holism, as a symbol needs to be part of a system of symbols. He also appears to take a realist view of symbols. That combination of holism and realism makes the threshold a sharp threshold, which makes it hard to explain how the threshold was crossed. This difficulty is overcome if we take a mild realist position towards symbols, in the style of Dennett. Mild realism allows intermediate stages in the crossing but does not undermine Deacon's claim that the threshold is difficult to cross or the claim that it needs to be crossed quickly

Thick Concepts and Variability

Some philosophers hold that so-called "thick" terms and concepts in ethics (such as 'cruel,' 'selfish,' 'courageous,' and 'generous') are contextually variable with respect to the valence (positive or negative) of the evaluations that they may be used to convey. Some of these philosophers use this variability claim to argue that thick terms and concepts are not inherently evaluative in meaning; rather their use conveys evaluations as a broadly pragmatic matter. I argue that one sort of putative examples of contextual variability in evaluative valence that are found in the literature fail to support the variability claim and that another sort of putative examples are open to a wide range of explanations that have different implications for the relationship between thick terms and concepts and evaluation. I conclude that considerations of contextual variability fail to settle whether thick terms and concepts are inherently evaluative in meaning. In closing I suggest a more promising line of research

Shapelessness in context

Many philosophers believe that the extensions of evaluative terms and concepts aren't unified under non-evaluative similarity relations and that this "shapelessness thesis" (ST) has significant metaethical implications regarding non-cognitivism, ethical naturalism, moral particularism, thick concepts and more. ST is typically offered as an explanation of why evaluative classifications appear to "outrun" classifications specifiable in independently intelligible non-evaluative terms. This paper argues that both ST and the outrunning point used to motivate it can be explained on the basis of more general factors that have nothing in particular to do with being evaluative. Insofar as ST is plausible, a wide variety of non-evaluative terms will also be such that the extension of a term T isn't unified under similarity relations specifiable in purely T-free terms. If so, there is no reason to expect ST to carry the sorts of metaethical implications that get attributed to it. I also show that my main argument is robust across certain complications that are raised by the context-sensitivity of many evaluative terms but have so far been ignored in discussions of ST and related matters

The response of diatom central carbon metabolism to nitrogen starvation is different from that of green algae and higher plants

The availability of nitrogen varies greatly in the ocean and limits primary productivity over large areas. Diatoms, a group of phytoplankton that are responsible for about 20% of global carbon fixation, respond rapidly to influxes of nitrate and are highly successful in upwelling regions. Although recent diatom genome projects have highlighted clues to the success of this group, very little is known about their adaptive response to changing environmental conditions. Here, we compare the proteome of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (CCMP 1335) at the onset of nitrogen starvation with that of nitrogen-replete cells using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. In total, 3,310 protein spots were distinguishable, and we identified 42 proteins increasing and 23 decreasing in abundance (greater than 1.5-fold change; P < 0.005). Proteins involved in the metabolism of nitrogen, amino acids, proteins, and carbohydrates, photosynthesis, and chlorophyll biosynthesis were represented. Comparison of our proteomics data with the transcriptome response of this species under similar growth conditions showed good correlation and provided insight into different levels of response. The T. pseudonana response to nitrogen starvation was also compared with that of the higher plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus. We have found that the response of diatom carbon metabolism to nitrogen starvation is different from that of other photosynthetic eukaryotes and bears closer resemblance to the response of cyanobacteria

Cytochrome cM decreases photosynthesis under photomixotrophy in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Photomixotrophy is a metabolic state that enables photosynthetic microorganisms to simultaneously perform photosynthesis and metabolism of imported organic carbon substrates. This process is complicated in cyanobacteria, since many, including Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, conduct photosynthesis and respiration in an interlinked thylakoid membrane electron transport chain. Under photomixotrophy, the cell must therefore tightly regulate electron fluxes from photosynthetic and respiratory complexes. In this study, we demonstrate, via characterization of photosynthetic apparatus and the proteome, that photomixotrophic growth results in a gradual inhibition of QA- reoxidation in wild-type Synechocystis, which largely decreases photosynthesis over 3 d of growth. This process is circumvented by deleting the gene encoding cytochrome cM (CytM), a cryptic c-type heme protein widespread in cyanobacteria. The ΔCytM strain maintained active photosynthesis over the 3-d period, demonstrated by high photosynthetic O2 and CO2 fluxes and effective yields of PSI and PSII. Overall, this resulted in a higher growth rate compared to that of the wild type, which was maintained by accumulation of proteins involved in phosphate and metal uptake, and cofactor biosynthetic enzymes. While the exact role of CytM has not been determined, a mutant deficient in the thylakoid-localized respiratory terminal oxidases and CytM (ΔCox/Cyd/CytM) displayed a phenotype similar to that of ΔCytM under photomixotrophy. This, in combination with other physiological data, and in contrast to a previous hypothesis, suggests that CytM does not transfer electrons to these complexes. In summary, our data suggest that CytM may have a regulatory role in photomixotrophy by modulating the photosynthetic capacity of cells

Structure and functional motifs of GCR1, the only plant protein with a GPCR fold?

Whether GPCRs exist in plants is a fundamental biological question. Interest in deorphanizing new G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), arises because of their importance in signaling. Within plants, this is controversial as genome analysis has identified 56 putative GPCRs, including GCR1 which is reportedly a remote homologue to class A, B and E GPCRs. Of these, GCR2, is not a GPCR; more recently it has been proposed that none are, not even GCR1. We have addressed this disparity between genome analysis and biological evidence through a structural bioinformatics study, involving fold recognition methods, from which only GCR1 emerges as a strong candidate. To further probe GCR1, we have developed a novel helix alignment method, which has been benchmarked against the the class A – class B - class F GPCR alignments. In addition, we have presented a mutually consistent set of alignments of GCR1 homologues to class A, class B and class F GPCRs, and shown that GCR1 is closer to class A and /or class B GPCRs than class A, class B or class F GPCRs are to each other. To further probe GCR1, we have aligned transmembrane helix 3 of GCR1 to each of the 6 GPCR classes. Variability comparisons provide additional evidence that GCR1 homologues have the GPCR fold. From the alignments and a GCR1 comparative model we have identified motifs that are common to GCR1, class A, B and E GPCRs. We discuss the possibilities that emerge from this controversial evidence that GCR1 has a GPCR fol

La mise en valeur de la collection des ebooks de la Bibliothèque du CERN

Ce mandat a été réalisé pour la Bibliothèque du CERN. Face au constat que sa collection d’ebooks manque de visibilité, la Bibliothèque souhaite mettre en place des actions de valorisation de cette collection. L’objectif de ce mandat est donc de proposer des solutions adaptées au contexte du CERN pour la mise en valeur des ebooks de la Bibliothèque. Ce travail se divise en deux parties. La première pose le contexte institutionnel et théorique du mandat. Elle présente tout d’abord le CERN et sa Bibliothèque ainsi qu’une typologie de ses utilisateurs. Le chapitre suivant est consacré aux éléments clés d’une démarche de marketing appliquée aux bibliothèques. Enfin, cette partie se clôt sur un tour d’horizon de techniques utilisées pour la valorisation des ebooks dans des bibliothèques américaines et européennes. La deuxième partie du travail est consacrée à la réalisation d’un marketing plan pour les ebooks de la Bibliothèque du CERN. Une analyse de l’existant est tout d’abord réalisée. Elle se focalise sur les modes d’acquisition des ebooks et leur signalement dans le catalogue, les plateformes des fournisseurs, les opérations de promotion réalisées par la Bibliothèque ainsi que les statistiques d’utilisation. Les différents canaux de communication internes au CERN sont aussi recensés. Le chapitre suivant est consacré à une enquête auprès des utilisateurs, réalisée sous la forme d’entretiens ainsi que d’un questionnaire en ligne. Sur la base de ces analyses une segmentation du public est réalisée et les publics-cibles du marketing plan identifiés. Une analyse SWOT et une analyse des concurrents sont ensuite réalisées. Grâce à ce travail, des stratégies de valorisation sont proposées. Celles-ci s’articulent sur trois axes, correspondant à trois espaces de mise en valeur : le site web de la Bibliothèque, l’espace physique de ses locaux et l’extérieur. Pour terminer, l’affichage des notices dans le catalogue est analysé sur la base des commentaires recueillis lors de l’enquête auprès des utilisateurs et des améliorations sont proposées. Celles-ci sont appliquées dans une maquette réalisée dans l’optique d’une refonte de l’interface du catalogue

Traditional Korean Wig: Ga-Chae(가체) - The Queen Style: Eoyeo hair(어여머리)

Whether it was thousands of years ago or now, despite the gender, people\u27s obsession and interest in beauty and wealth were the same, and beauty was a symbol of wealth and family power during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 – 1897) as well. Influenced by the Ming Dynasty from China, women in Joseon started to wear wigs called Ga-Chae, which were loops of thick and rich black hair braided together. Among all the different kinds of Ga-Chae, I chose to do a deeper research in the Queen style of Ga-Chae, called the Eoyeo Hair. This wig style was only allowed for the Queens of Joseon to wear and it looks like a crown but in a hairstyle upon their head, since only the Kings were allowed to wear a crown. The wig was made by actual human hair, which made it really expensive. During this time period, Confucianism (an ancient Chinese belief system, which focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality) was the ruling ideology, therefore it was prohibited to cut your hair since birth or else people will take it as a huge disrespect to your parents and your ancestors. However, the demand of Ga-Chae from women was insane so some kidnapped people and cut their hair off, or people who needed money desperately would secretly sell their hair in a huge price. Natural hair would be the best but for the Queens, they wanted thicker and even more rich black color for their Ga-Chae, so people would use various ingredients to dye the hair, from importing Tang Scarlet from China which is about $5000 per pound, to squashing little bugs called Cochineals into juice and spread over the hair. For me I chose to use tomato powder mixed with boiled water since it contains Lycopene that helps with dyeing the hair for building my own Ga-Chae throughout this research and used Cassia oil along with hair smoothing cream to smoothen out the hair. The wig itself is quite heavy so if it were to be used for theatrical purposes then I highly recommend the wearer to avoid having drastic head movements, but it would perfectly do its job as representing the Queen of Joseon in a show.https://commons.und.edu/ta-pp/1000/thumbnail.jp

Dietary whey protein increases brain leukocytes in mice regardless of their hypersensitivity status

Cow’s milk allergy (CMA) often manifests as milder reactions and may be linked to neurological problems. Previously, we demonstrated that C57BL/6J mice sensitized to a bovine whey allergen, β-lactoglobulin (BLG, Bos d 5), moderately increased BLG-specific IgE levels and exhibited behavioral changes without severe allergic reactions. When these non-anaphylactic CMA mice were placed on a whey-protein (WP)-containing diet for 2 weeks to simulate continuous dairy consumption, we found neuropathology indicative of neuroinflammation and cortical demyelination. Since immune cells migrate to the central nervous system (CNS) and promote neuroinflammation in demyelinating conditions such as multiple sclerosis, we hypothesized that the number of leukocytes would increase in BLG-sensitized mouse brains to orchestrate neuropathology. To test this hypothesis, we used flow cytometry to determine the number and phenotypes of leukocytes in the brains of naïve, sham, and BLG-sensitized mice after the 2 weeks of the WP diet. The frequencies of cells expressing common leukocyte marker CD45, pan T cell marker CD3, cytotoxic T cell marker CD8, integrin CD11b, myeloid cell marker CD14, and co-stimulatory marker CD86 significantly increased, regardless of the sensitization status. The percentages of these cells were low in mice that never received WP. This result indicated that WP diet consumption alone increased CNS leukocyte populations. Additional immunophenotyping is needed to determine whether the identified cells can be differentiated among the experimental groups. Detailed characterization of CNS leukocyte phenotypes and dynamics will help elucidate the mechanism of CMA-induced neuroinflammation and cortical demyelination.https://commons.und.edu/bms-pp/1001/thumbnail.jp