bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sinn und Bedeutung der philosophischen Gottesbeweise
Authors: Berchem Christophe
Published: November 2019

Der Sinn der philosophischen Gottesbeweise besteht in der Hauptsache in der Widerlegung pseudowissenschaftlicher Argumente des Atheismus und in der reflexen Unterstützung des religiösen Glaubens. Zwischen der philosophischen Theologie und der Religion kommt eine wesentliche Dialektik zur Geltung. Wird die philosophische Theologie, die eben im philosophischen Gottesbeweis kulminiert, abgelehnt, so tritt an ihre Stelle die Gefahr des Abgleitens in einen irrationalen Dezisionismus. Die Grundgedanken der metaphysischen Gottesbeweise sind unwiderlegbar und damit jederzeit gültig und tragfähig. Ihre für das moderne Bewußtsein erforderliche methodische Absicherung und systematische Entfaltung zeigen, daß sie in einen anthropologischen Gottesbeweis übergehen, dessen Erfahrungsbasis der Mensch selbst ist. Alle Sätze der philosophischen Theologie sind Sätze über die Welt und den Menschen; sie erklären deren Bedingung der Möglichkeit und Wirklichkeit, samt den Implikationen dessen, was ihr ‘Urgrund’ ist. Darüber hinaus ist der Einwand, der philosophische Gottesbeweis sei in bezug auf den religiöses Glauben überflüssig, ebensowenig berechtigt wie der Einwand, der philosophische Gottesbeweis rationalisiere den religiösen Glauben. Einerseits sucht der (weit verstandene) Glaube reflexe Einsicht, andererseits läßt theoretische Gotteserkenntnis dasjenige intakt, worauf es dem religiösen Menschen unbedingt ankommt: die ‘Funktion’ der freien Hingabe.
Re-Identifying God in Experience
Authors: Gellman Jerome I.
Published: November 2019

If an alleged experience of God can constitute evidence for God’s existence, then it must be possible for God to be a perceptual particular, that is, a substantive, enduring object of perception. Furthermore, if several such experiences are to be cumulative evidence for God’s existence, then it must be possible to reidentify God from experience to experience. I examine both a "conceptual" and an "epistemological" argument against these possibilities that is derived from the work of Richard Gale. I argue that neither of these arguments is successful. For God to be a perceptual particular, he must have an inner life; for God to be reidentified across experiences, he need not exist in dimensions analogous to the spatiotemporal.
The Philosophical Legacy of the 16th and 17th Century Socinians
Authors: Hillar Marian
Published: November 2019

The doctrines of the Socinians represent a rational reaction to a medieval theology based on submission to the Church’s authority. Though they retained Scripture as something supra rationem, the Socinians analyzed it rationally and believed that nothing should be accepted contra rationem. Their social and political thought underwent a significant evolutionary process from a very utopian pacifistic trend condemning participation in war and holding public and judicial office to a moderate and realistic stance based on mutual love, support of the secular power of the state, active participation in social and political life, and the defense of social equality. They spoke out against the enserfment of peasants, and were the first Christians to postulate the separation of Church and state. The spirit of absolute religious freedom expressed in their practice and writings, ‘determined, more or less immediately, all the subsequent revolutions in favor of religious liberty.’(1) The precursor ideas of the Socinians on religious freedom later were expanded, perfected, and popularized by Locke and Pierre Bayle. Locke’s ideas were transplanted to America by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson who implemented them in American legislation. The rationality of the Socinians set the trend for the philosophical ideas of the Enlightenment and determined the future development of many modern intellectual endeavors.
Religion and Science in the Parable of the Unjust Steward
Authors: Poliakov Eugene S.
Published: November 2019

The Parable of the Unjust Steward should be interpreted allegorically, its literal interpretation shown to be impossible. Certain facts make this parable unique: a lord as the Lord; divine possessions; the symbolism of the house interpreted as a human being; the material principles of the world understood as the governor of a human being; the Lord’s debtors as spiritual teachers of various kinds; theological doctrines with their own theogonic and cosmogonic views, all claiming to know the truth in its wholeness. Their debts consist of their misunderstandings and errors which have caused the difference between them and truth. Examples of the part of the material principles of the world in correcting theological doctrines are adduced. Two different kinds of debt are considered. I conclude that ‘make to yourselves friends of the riches of unrighteousness’ means that the material reasons of the world, the wisdom of this age, must be used for the good of spiritual teachings.
The Relational Nature of Species Concepts
Authors: Burgos José E.
Published: November 2019

Édouard Le Roy as early as 1901 observed the existence of an intellectual movement seeking to break from traditional positivism and set for himself the task of drawing up the program of this new positivism. Noting that this program precedes the Vienna Circle, I endeavor to determine its nature and to evaluate its impact on logical positivism. Viewed in this light, the discussions between Le Roy, Poincaré and Duhem appear more prolonged and substantial than is usually thought. What we have here is perhaps not a homogeneous doctrine but a vigorous intellectual movement, from which logical positivists were able to borrow specific theses in their attempts to mitigate Mach's strict positivism; more important still, they had before them an example of neopositivism. History is not the only concern: among the issues debated, one encounters the claim that facts are theory-laden. This claim still stirs controversy today. An inquiry into the origins of the claim is one way of clarifying the arguments involved.
Order Versus Chaos or the Ghost of Indeterminacy
Authors: Giuculescu Alexandru
Published: November 2019

Indeterminacy, uncertainty, disorder, randomness, vagueness, fuzziness, ambiguity, crisis, undecideability, chaos, are all different terms. Yet, they are also semantically related to the idea of something opposed to order or structure and organization. Such terms denote prima facie insuperable obstacles to the attainment of true, certain, or precise knowledge about things and events. After analysing the ontological, logical, and axiological status of indeterminary, I outline the aoristic logic which allows adequate descriptions of phenomena pertaining to an area of indeterminary. Aoristic logic provides a propositional calculus that makes possible the compatibility of order with indeterminacy.
Something More on What Explanation Explains
Authors: Horenstein Norma Silvia
Published: November 2019

Es propósito de esta comunicación revisar la teoría pragmática de la explicación sostenida por van Fraassen en The Scientific Image y otros escritos. Se cuestiona la necesidad de responder objeciones como las de Kitcher y Salmon en términos de la identificación de una relación de relevancia objetiva en las explicaciones concebidas como respuestas a preguntas por qué. En consecuencia, se examina la alternativa de considerer positivamente la existencia de haces de relaciones de relevancia especialmente como determinantes de la producción de diferentes desarrollos teóricos que proporcionen nuevas imágenes no literales de cómo es el mundo. Se toma como punto de partida para esta propuesta la adhesión de van Fraassen a la concepción semántica de las teorías científicas. Se señala entonces el contraste entre el análisis complementario que de la explicación y de la reconstrucción de teorías realiza el enfoque estructural y la posición sustentada por van Fraassen. En esta última se advierte el divorcio entre la concepción pragmática de la explicación y la tesis de que las teorías científicas se identifícan a través de sus modelos más la definitió teórica que define estas estructuras. Se sugiere la necesidad de restablecer la conexión entre ambas aun sin comprometerse en una teoría de la unificación, pero reconociendo virtudes informacionales en la explicación. En un análisis que incorpora las dimensiones pragmática y diacrónica se intenta reivindicar el valor de la explicación en la generación de teorías que sean empíricamente adecuadas en principio.
Technological “Paradigms”
Authors: Hronszky Imre
Published: November 2019

Many efforts have been made to discover some paradigm-like changes in mathematics, the social sciences, arts, history, etc. Gary Gutting forcefully criticizes the tendency of over-constraining the original conception that mostly led to insignificant analogies. But some applications may fall between correct isomorphic utilization and insignificant analogizing. The paradigm conception of technological change emerged in the early 1980's. This paper shows how fruitful the analogy has been for developing the idea of technological 'paradigms.' But a technological paradigm shows decisive differences which concern the values (which are not only cognitive ones) of technologies, the hierarchical systemic communities, the partly different nature of crises (through 'presumptive anomalies,' by Constant), and the necessarily integrated nature of technological knowledge leading to successful artifacts linked to goal-oriented research. Technological-paradigms-thinking became an established part of evolutionary economics also. According to this, paradigms rival conceptions that show further changes in comparison to the original Kuhnian approach. I conclude by discussing the nature of scientific change from the viewpoint of technological paradigms.
Philosophy of Contents
Authors: Kreidik Leonid G. , Shpenkov George P.
Published: November 2019

In this paper I conduct a philosophical-physical analysis leading to the development of a philosophically justified form of Coulomb's law on the basis of contents-form philosophy.. From this it follows that dimensionality of "electric charge" at the subatomic level of matter is g/s, i.e., the charge in fact represents the mass speed of exchange at the field level. Thus, the philosophiclogical solution to Coulomb's law on the basis of contents-form philosophy radically changes our conventional concepts about the microworld, the consequences of which will be considered in greater detail.
The Monoamine Hypothesis, Placebos and Problems of Theory Construction in Psychology, Medicine, and Psychiatry
Authors: Tang Paul C. L.
Published: November 2019

Can there be scientific theories in psychology, medicine or psychiatry? I approach this question through an in-depth analysis of a typical experiment for clinical depression involving the monoamine hypothesis, drug action, and placebos. I begin my discussion with a reconstruction of Adolph Grünbaum's conceptual analysis of 'placebo,' and then use his notion of "intentional placebo" to discuss a typical experiment using the monoamine hypothesis, two drugs and a placebo. I focus on the theoretical aspects of the experiment, especially on the notion of causal explanation. I then raise five conceptual and methodological problems for theory construction. These problems focus on questions of the causal efficacy of placebos and drugs; ad hoc versus ceteris paribus explanations in biomedicine and psychology; and the falsifiability of the monoamine hypothesis. I conclude by pointing out the need for further, rigorous philosophical analysis concerning the possibility of theory construction in psychology, medicine, or psychiatry.
The Problem of Science in Heidegger’s Thought
Authors: Videla Daniel
Published: November 2019

In this paper I deal with the status of science in Heidegger's thought. Particularly, I pose to Heidegger the question whether science can constitute a problem for philosophy, once one has cast doubt on philosophy's rank as first science whose prerogative is to establish the truth-criteria of the particular sciences. To express it with the convenience cliches always afford, this is the question of knowledge in the postmodern epoch. The paper traces the transition from the early "fundamental ontology" to the late notion of a thinking that is to come at the end of philosophy. It will include some reflections on the role of an education for science at the end of modernity. The texts analyzed include Being and Time, "What calls for thinking," and "The end of philosophy and the task of thinking."
Philosophy and Technology
Authors: Pop Liana
Published: November 2019

This paper deals the place of technology in contemporary culture, and the relationship between science and morality. A definition of technique as a social process has to emphasize the fact that technique means developing and enabling different fabricated material systems; it is also the action of environment transformation according to human necessities. The area of culture is not limited to classical values, conceived with traditional meanings, arts and human sciences, but also covers the values of the natural and technical sciences as well as the whole set of values implied by technique and technology. Far from being a marginal component of culture, technology interacts internally with philosophical fields such as epistemology, ontology, value theory, and ethics. It also partly overlaps partly with other fields. I suggest that science should not be considered as free of value and neutral from a moral viewpoint both because the scientist makes valuable judgments during scientific activity and because the applications of science have moral value and raise moral problems. There is thus a need for moral control that would deter the scientists from evildoing. The need for wisdom and a clear scientific attitude in our contemporary technical civilization is emphasized.
Human Values
Authors: Chumakov Alexander
Published: November 2019

At the dawn of global civil society, the test for humanity is to achieve unity while preserving cultural differences as well as the distinctiveness of nations and peoples. Such unity can be reached only by recognizing human values, especially human rights. However, these rights must be strictly determined and more than mere obligations. Hence, the most important task for philosophy is to develop foundations and principles for a world society and to formulate a global consciousness and a humanistic worldview that adequately reflects the realities of our epoch. Our action must increasingly be based on an acknowledgment of global values.
Constitutional Paideia
Authors: Buchwalter Andrew
Published: November 2019

Constitutional paideia designates a form of constitutionalism that construes a nation’s constitution essentially in terms of ongoing processes of collective self-formation. This paper explores the notion of constitutional paideia as formulated by Hegel, who explicitly defines constitutionalism with categories of Bildung. The paper’s strategy is to present Hegel’ position in light of questions that can be raised about it. The paper advances three central theses: (1) in spite (and perhaps because) of his historico-culturist approach to law, Hegel is a theoretician of constitutional paideia; (2) despite construing constitutionalism in terms of ongoing processes of popular self-interpretation, Hegel does not vitiate the distinction between law and politics deemed so central to constitutional theory; and (3) despite construing constitutionalism in terms of self-formative processes of a particular culture, Hegel does not jettison the normativity and trans-contextualism long associated with modern constitutional theory. The paper concludes with some observations on the contemporary significance of Hegelian constitutionalism.
The Ideal of Objectivity in Political Dialogue
Authors: Graham Kevin M.
Published: November 2019

If political dialogue is to identify and redress existing forms of injustice, participants in the dialogue must be able to appeal to the concept of objectivity in order to exchange claims, attitudes, and background beliefs which distort or conceal various forms of injustice. The conceptions of objectivity traditionally employed in liberal democratic political philosophy are not well-suited to play this role because they are insufficiently sensitive to the social and ideological pluralism of modern societies. Some liberal political philosophers have recently offered more context-sensitive and pluralistic conceptions of objectivity, requiring participants in political dialogue to frame their demands for justice in terms of a conception of justice acceptable to all participants in the dialogue. I argue that this conception of objectivity constitutes an improvement over traditional liberal conceptions. However, it is ultimately unacceptable because it does not take adequate account of the limited and distorted knowledge that members of dominant social groups tend to possess about the oppression experienced by members of subordinate and marginalized groups. As a result, this conception of objectivity wrongly deems the demands for justice voiced by members of subordinate and marginalized groups to be subjective simply because they seem unreasonable from the limited and distorting standpoint of dominant social groups.
Cultural Differentiation and Moral Orientation
Authors: Anderson-Gold Sharon
Published: November 2019

In contrast with his major ethical works, Kant’s writings on history are replete with the theme of the social character of moral development and the interdependence of individual and community. I argue that historical-moral progress is an important part of Kant’s comprehensive ethical theory. However, in order to link the moral goals of humanity with the moral goals of individuals, judgement must have a dimension that can apprehend the purposiveness of those human achievements which are social in their significance and socially transmitted. In other words, such achievements transcend individual intention. The ‘historical signs’ of such moral purposiveness provide moral orientation through the conflicting claims that arise within and between complex and historically evolving human communities. I explore the role of disinterested judgement in providing this orientation and in marking the moral disposition of the species.
Moral Sentiments and Determinism
Authors: Trajano Arruda Antonio
Published: November 2019

P. F. Strawson’s essay "Freedom and Resentment" was a landmark in the study of determinism, free-will, and morality. It contributed a much-needed correction to the problem of overintellectualization as found in twentieth-century compatibilist literature. Although most of the central claims in Strawson’s essay are important and true, it fails to fill the lacuna in the analysis, discussion and proposals of traditional compatibilism. The reasons may be summarized as follows. The web of moral demands, feelings and participant attitudes comprises a set of facts within human social life which must be investigated in order to understand the relation (or lack thereof) between determinism and morality. If the facts themselves fill the gap, then it must be some adequate and coherent understanding of them. According to Strawson, the incompatibilist has an understandable dissatisfaction with his opponent’s account because, among other things, the latter fails to deal with the condition of desert and of the justice of moral condemnation and punishment. However, the theory of "Freedom and Resentment" fails equally on this point. What is now needed is a combination of factual study with ethical inquiry. The former would draw on the results of social psychology, the psychology of moral development, the social sciences of morals, and (philosophical) moral psychology.
Virtue Ethics (Not Too) Simplified
Authors: Cafaro Philip
Published: November 2019

There are two basic types of ethical judgments: deontological judgements that focus on focus on duty and obligation and eudaimonist judgements that focus on human excellence and the nature of the good life. I contend that we must carefully distinguish these two types of judgement and not try to understand one as a special case of the other. Ethical theories may be usefully divided into two main kinds, deontological or eudaimonist, on the basis of whether they take one of the other of these types of judgement as primary. A second important contention, which this paper supports but does not attempt to justify fully, is that neither type of theory trumps the other, nor should we subsume them under some more encompassing ethical synthesis.
Die Moralität der Natur und die Natur der Moralität
Authors: Krijnen Christian H.
Published: November 2019

In what follows, I evaluate whether so-called evolutionary ethics is able to answer basic ethical questions. I argue that it cannot on the basis of its methodological structure. The philosophical notion of validity confronts evolutionary ethics with unresolvable difficulties. My criticisms derive from the modern idealistic transcendental tradition of philosophy-a tradition which many evolutionary philosophers themselves criticize.
What May We Do?
Authors: Rampacher Hermann
Published: November 2019

Social standards guide us in what to do and what to refrain from doing. But can social — moral or legal — standards be trusted? This paper presents an evolutionary ethical theory that generates trustworthy ethical norms. Each norm is assigned a demonstrable risk, called an ethical risk, that depends on both human behavior and danger to the survival of society. The assigned risk is minimal if and only if everybody obeys the norm. The higher the risk assigned to a norm, the higher the norm’s rank (an empirical quantity depending on the evolutionary status of society). An ordered finite set of ethical risks and ethical norms allows the settlement of ethical problems arising in society. Subsets of existing moral and legal standards all over the world are compatible with norms being elements of these ordered finite sets of ethical norms. Like all standards, ethical norms are often violated. A single violated norm suffices to activate correlations between risks, resulting in an ethical conflict. The more often a high-ranking norm is violated, the poorer the society in question. Ethical conflicts can be resolved by responsible persons or groups advancing higher-ranking norms involved in optimization at the expense of lower-ranking norms. Examples are given to support the theory.
Two (Faulty) Responses to the Challenge of Amoralism
Authors: Tilley John J.
Published: November 2019

To the question "Why should I be moral?" there is a simple answer (SA) that some philosophers find tempting. There is also a response, common enough to be dubbed the standard response (SR), to the simple answer. In what follows, I show that the SA and SR are unsatisfactory; they share a serious defect.
A deficiência visual em foco: estratégias lúdicas na Educação Matemática Inclusiva
Authors: Silveira Érica Santana , Sá Antônio Villar Marques de
Published: November 2019

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir sobre o ensino de Matemática para alunos com deficiência visual, apontando expressões lúdicas enquanto estratégia de ensino no âmbito da inclusão escolar. As expressões lúdicas podem compor-se de jogos, brincadeiras e outras atividades que venham a despertar o espírito lúdico nos sujeitos que as realizam. A partir dos estudos aqui analisados e da identificação de jogos pedagógicos táteis e digitais, acredito que os materiais considerados lúdicos podem contribuir para o desenvolvimento do sistema háptico ou tato ativo, uma vez que, através deste sistema, os indivíduos sem acuidade visual percebem o mundo ao seu redor e podem construir diferentes conceitos matemáticos, potencializando a aprendizagem neste componente curricular. Por este motivo, serão descritos diferentes materiais e jogos que possibilitem tratar conteúdos matemáticos presentes na Educação Básica, especialmente aqueles construídos e testados junto a alunos cegos e com baixa visão. Os resultados apontam para a necessidade de realizar mais pesquisas que apresentem outras alternativas lúdicas, para o desenvolvimento do processo de ensino e aprendizagem de conceitos matemáticos pouco contemplados em tais materiais ou jogos. Em sua maioria, as atividades abordam conceitos de função, geometria, progressão geométrica, as quatro operações básicas, e o reconhecimento dos símbolos que representam os números. Entretanto, há inúmeros outros conteúdos matemáticos que ainda são trabalhados em sala de aula com um forte apelo visual, demandando outras estratégias que favorecem a inclusão e aprendizagem de pessoas com deficiência visual.
L’EXCLUSION PONCTUELLE DE COURS DANS L’ENSEIGNEMENT SECONDAIRE FRANÇAIS : LES EFFETS D’UNE PRATIQUE PUNITIVE BANALISÉE
Authors: Garric Julien
Published: November 2019

L’exclusion ponctuelle de cours est, dans l’enseignement secondaire français, une routine de la gestion des problèmes de discipline qui contribuerait au décrochage scolaire. Cet article décrit les pratiques enseignantes consistant à renvoyer des élèves de classe et leur prise en charge par les services de vie scolaire dans trois collèges de l’éducation prioritaire. Il s’appuie sur des entretiens menés avec les personnels de ces établissements, sur des observations de cours et d’espaces de vie scolaire. Les résultats dévoilent la participation de cette pratique à la construction de la carrière de déviant des élèves. Au regard de ce processus favorisant le décrochage, les pratiques d’une éducation inclusive sont discutées, en particulier dans une perspective de formation initiale des enseignants.
ENJEUX DE COLLABORATION ENTOURANT LE PLAN D’ENSEIGNEMENT INDIVIDUALISÉ. ENTRE PROCESSUS D’INCLUSION ET D’EXCLUSION
Authors: Bélanger Nathalie , St-Pierre Joannie
Published: November 2019

Les rôles des acteurs engagés dans la préparation et l’implantation de plans d’enseignement individualisé sont examinés. Ces plans sont considérés en tant que dispositifs qui organisent des rapports sociaux entre les acteurs scolaires et communautaires. Une revue de la littérature menée à partir de moteurs de recherche et de critères précis permet de discuter des rôles des acteurs et de leur collaboration en lien aux orientations inclusives plus récemment adoptées et des possibles effets d’exclusion.
Movement of accessible plasma membrane cholesterol by the GRAMD1 lipid transfer protein complex
Authors: Naito Tomoki , Ercan Bilge , Krshnan Logesvaran , Triebl Alexander , Koh Dylan Hong Zheng , Wei Fan-Yan , Tomizawa Kazuhito , Torta Federico Tesio , Wenk Markus R , Saheki Yasunori
Published: November 2019

Cholesterol is a major structural component of the plasma membrane (PM). The majority of PM cholesterol forms complexes with other PM lipids, making it inaccessible for intracellular transport. Transition of PM cholesterol between accessible and inaccessible pools maintains cellular homeostasis, but how cells monitor the accessibility of PM cholesterol remains unclear. We show that endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-anchored lipid transfer proteins, the GRAMD1s, sense and transport accessible PM cholesterol to the ER. GRAMD1s bind to one another and populate ER-PM contacts by sensing a transient expansion of the accessible pool of PM cholesterol via their GRAM domains. They then facilitate the transport of this cholesterol via their StART-like domains. Cells that lack all three GRAMD1s exhibit striking expansion of the accessible pool of PM cholesterol as a result of less efficient PM to ER transport of accessible cholesterol. Thus, GRAMD1s facilitate the movement of accessible PM cholesterol to the ER in order to counteract an acute increase of PM cholesterol, thereby activating non-vesicular cholesterol transport.
The Reformation and the Idea of the North
Authors: Marshall Peter
Published: November 2019

Both scholarly and popular perceptions have identified a profound cultural and political realignment of Europe with the Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: a largely Protestant North confronting a predominantly Catholic South. This replaced a medieval conceptual geography of East-West, in which the North (on the basis of scriptural passages) was a zone of sinfulness and danger. This chapter argues that the emergence of a North-South cultural-religious dichotomy was more fraught and uncertain than often supposed. Late medieval North European humanists countered negative perceptions with patriotic accounts of national origins. In the era of the Counter-Reformation, British and Scandinavian Catholic exiles emphasised the intrinsic virtue and orthodoxy of northerners, and the potential for reclaiming their homelands from heresy. Protestants were often ambivalent about the North, not least since northern parts of England, Scotland, Ireland and Denmark-Norway were often associated with Catholic resistance, as well as with magic and superstition. The propaganda of the British Civil Wars reinforced both positive and negative stereotypes. While a cultural association of Protestantism with the North eventually took root, this was a contingent process, and should be seen more as a consequence than a cause of the stabilization of Europe’s confessional borders.
Land use is the main driver of soil organic carbon spatial distribution in a high mountain ecosystem
Authors: Fusaro Carmine , Sarria-Guzmán Yohanna , Chávez-Romero Yosef A. , Luna-Guido Marco , Muñoz-Arenas Ligia C. , Dendooven Luc , Estrada-Torres Arturo , Navarro-Noya Yendi E.
Published: November 2019

Background

Terrestrial ecosystems play a significant role in carbon (C) storage. Human activities, such as urbanization, infrastructure, and land use change, can reduce significantly the C stored in the soil. The aim of this research was to measure the spatial variability of soil organic C (SOC) in the national park La Malinche (NPLM) in the central highlands of Mexico as an example of highland ecosystems and to determine the impact of land use change on the SOC stocks through deterministic and geostatistical geographic information system (GIS) based methods.

Methods

The soil was collected from different landscapes, that is, pine, fir, oak and mixed forests, natural grassland, moor and arable land, and organic C content determined. Different GIS-based deterministic (inverse distance weighting, local polynomial interpolation and radial basis function) and geostatistical interpolation techniques (ordinary kriging, cokriging and empirical Bayes kriging) were used to map the SOC stocks and other environmental variables of the top soil layer.

Results

All interpolation GIS-based methods described the spatial distribution of SOC of the NPLM satisfactorily. The total SOC stock of the NPLM was 2.45 Tg C with 85.3% in the forest (1.26 Tg C in the A horizon and 0.83 Tg C in the O horizon), 11.4% in the arable soil (0.23 Tg in the A horizon and only 0.05 Tg C in the O horizon) and 3.3% in the high moor (0.07 Tg C in the A horizon and <0.01 Tg C in the O horizon). The estimated total SOC stock in a preserved part of the forest in NPLM was 4.98 Tg C in 1938 and has nearly halved since then. Continuing this trend of converting all the remaining forest to arable land will decrease the total SOC stock to 0.52 Tg C.

Discussion

Different factors explain the large variations in SOC stocks found in this study but the change in land use (conversion of forests into agricultural lands) was the major reason for the reduction of the SOC stocks in the high mountain ecosystem of the NPLM. Large amounts of C, however, could be stored potentially in this ecosystem if the area was used more sustainable. The information derived from this study could be used to recommend strategies to reverse the SOC loss in NPLM and other high-altitude temperate forests and sequester larger quantities of C. This research can serve as a reference for the analysis of SOC distribution in similar mountain ecosystems in central part of Mexico and in other parts of the world.
Genome-wide identification, characterization, interaction network and expression profile of GAPDH gene family in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)
Authors: Miao Luke , Chen Chunli , Yao Li , Tran Jaclyn , Zhang Hua
Published: November 2019

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a key glycolytic enzyme that plays important roles in multiple cellular processes including phytohormone signaling, plant development, and transcriptional regulation. Although GAPDH genes have been well characterized in various plant species such as Arabidopsis, tobacco, wheat, rice, and watermelon, comprehensive analysis has yet to be completed at the whole genome level in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis). In this study, six GAPDH genes distributed across four chromosomes were identified within the sweet orange genome. Their gene structures, conserved subunits, and subcellular localization were also characterized. Cis-element analysis of CsGAPDHs’ promoter regions and the results of dark treatments indicate that CsGAPDH may be involved in photosynthesis. CsGAPDH genes expressed either in a tissue-specific manner or constitutively were ultimately identified along with their expression response to phosphorus deficiency treatments. In addition, a dual-luciferase transient assay was performed to reveal the transcriptional activation of CsGAPDH proteins. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis for proteins interacting with CsGAPDHs helped to uncover the roles these CsGAPDHs play in other plant processes such as citrus seed germination. This study provides a systematic analysis of the CsGAPDH gene family in the sweet orange genome, which can serve as a strong foundation for further research into the biochemical properties and physiological functions of CsGAPDHs.
Long non-coding RNA, LINC01614 as a potential biomarker for prognostic prediction in breast cancer
Authors: Wang Yaozong , Song Baorong , Zhu Leilei , Zhang Xia
Published: November 2019

Background

Dysregulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may serve as potential biomarkers of cancers including breast cancer (BRCA). This study aimed to identify lncRNAs with strong prognostic value for BRCA.

Methods

LncRNA expression profiles of 929 tissue samples were downloaded from TANRIC database. We performed differential expression analysis between paired BRCA and adjacent normal tissues. Survival analysis was used to identify lncRNAs with prognostic value. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to confirm the independent prognostic value of potential lncRNAs. Dysregulated signaling pathways associated with lncRNA expression were evaluated using gene set enrichment analysis.

Results

We found that a total of 398 lncRNAs were significantly differentially expressed between BRCA and adjacent normal tissues (adjusted P value <= 0.0001 and |logFC| >= 1). Additionally, 381 potential lncRNAs were correlated Overall Survival (OS) (P value < 0.05). A total of 48 lncRNAs remained when differentially expressed lncRNAs overlapped with lncRNAs that had prognostic value. Among the 48 lncRNAs, one lncRNA (LINC01614) had stronger prognostic value and was highly expressed in BRCA tissues. LINC01614 expression was validated as an independent prognostic factor using univariate and multivariate analyses. Higher LINC01614 expression was observed in several molecular subgroups including estrogen receptors+, progesterone receptors+ and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)+ subgroup, respectively. Also, BRCA carrying one of four gene mutations had higher expression of LINC01614 including AOAH, CIT, HER2 and ODZ1. Higher expression of LINC01614 was positively correlated with several gene sets including TGF-β1 response, CDH1 signals and cell adhesion pathways.

Conclusions

A novel lncRNA LINC01614 was identified as a potential biomarker for prognosis prediction of BRCA. This study emphasized the importance of LINC01614 and further research should be focused on it.
Genetic and phylogenetic analysis of Chinese sacbrood virus isolates fromApis mellifera
Authors: Li Ming , Fei Dongliang , Sun Li , Ma Mingxiao
Published: November 2019

Background

Sacbrood virus (SBV) is one of the most pathogenic honeybee viruses that exhibits host specificity and regional variations. The SBV strains that infect the Chinese honeybeeApis ceranaare called Chinese SBVs (CSBVs).

Methods

In this study, a CSBV strain named AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 (GenBank accession No.MG733283) infectingA. melliferawas identified by electron microscopy, its protein composition was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and agar gel immunodiffusion assay, and its nucleotide sequence was identified using a series of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction fragments of AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 generated using SBV/CSBV-specific primers. To investigate phylogenetic relationships of the CSBV isolates, a phylogenetic tree of the complete open reading frames (ORF) of the CSBV sequences was constructed using MEGA 6.0; then, the similarity and recombination events among the isolated CSBV strains were analyzed using SimPlot and RDP4 software, respectively.

Results

Sequencing results revealed the complete 8,794-nucleotide long complete genomic RNA of the strain, with a single large ORF (189–8,717) encoding 2,843 amino acids. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with the SBV/CSBV reference sequences deposited in the GenBank database identified helicase, protease, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domains; the structural genes were located at the 5′ end, whereas the non-structural genes were found at the 3′ end. Multiple sequence alignment showed that AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 had a 17-amino acid (aa) and a single aa deletion at positions 711–729 and 2,128, respectively, as compared with CSBV-GD-2002, and a 16-aa deletion (positions 711–713 and 715–728) as compared with AmSBV-UK-2000. However, AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 was similar to the CSBV-JLCBS-2014 strain, which infectsA. cerana. AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 ORF shared 92.4–97.1% identity with the genomes of other CSBV strains (94.5–97.7% identity for deduced amino acids). AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 was least similar (89.5–90.4% identity) to other SBVs but showed maximum similarity with the previously reported CSBV-FZ-2014 strain. The phylogenetic tree constructed from AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 and 43 previously reported SBV/CSBV sequences indicated that SBV/CSBV strains clustered according to the host species and country of origin; AmCSBV-SDLY-2016 clustered with other previously reported Chinese and Asian strains (AC genotype SBV, as these strains originated fromA. cerana) but was separate from the SBV genomes originating from Europe (AM genotype SBV, originating fromA. mellifera). A SimPlot graph of SBV genomes confirmed the high variability, especially between the AC genotype SBV and AM genotype SBV. This genomic diversity may reflect the adaptation of SBV to specific hosts, ability of CSBV to cross the species barrier, and the spatial distances that separate CSBVs from other SBVs.
Abhinavagupta’s Attitude towards Yoga
Authors: Torella Raffaele
Published: November 2019

A major characteristic of the aristocratic attitude—and I would not know how to better define the flavor that pervades the whole of Abhinavagupta’s work—is the downgrading of all painful effort, seen as a plebeian feature. The aristocrat intends to show that what inferior people can achieve only at the cost of long and painful exercises is accessible to him promptly and very easily. One of the recurring qualifications for Abhinavagupta’s attitude to the spiritual path is precisely absence of effort, absence of exertion or fatigue, easiness. This can be clearly detected in Abhinavagupta’s attitude to yoga, or, to be more precise, to Pātañjala yoga. In the summary of the topics of the Tantrāloka (TĀ), at the end of Āhnika I, he lists “uselessness of yogāṅgas.” When all yogāṅgas, abhyāsa, vairāgya, etc ., are viewed from the peak of the highest aesthetically marked spiritual experiencer, they are condemned unreservedly (following the lead of the Vīrāvalī-tantra). On the other hand, after delivering such a pitiless death sentence, Abhinavagupta seems to gracefully suspend it, and allow common people to follow pāśavayoga ‘yoga for limited souls’ in the context of the “minimal means” with the motivation that after all everything is made of everything, and, as the MVU teaches, “nothing is to be prescribed, nothing to be prohibited.”
Haematopoietic stem cell reprogramming and the hope for a universal blood product
Authors: Barcia Durán José Gabriel , Lis Raphaël , Rafii Shahin
Published: November 2019

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the only adult stem cells with a demonstrated clinical use, even though a tractable method to maintain and expand human HSCs in vitro has not yet been found. Owing to the introduction of transplantation strategies for the treatment of haematological malignancies and, more recently, the promise of gene therapy, the need to improve the generation, manipulation and scalability of autologous or allogeneic HSCs has risen steeply over the past decade. In that context, reprogramming strategies based on the expression of exogenous transcription factors have emerged as a means to produce functional HSCs in vitro. These approaches largely stem from the assumption that key master transcription factors direct the expression of downstream target genes thereby triggering haematopoiesis. Both somatic and pluripotent cells have been used to this end, yielding variable results in terms of haematopoietic phenotype and functionality. Here, we present an overview of the haematopoietic reprogramming methods reported to date, provide the appropriate historical context and offer some critical insight about where the field stands at present.
Monitoring the Real‐Time Circulatory System‐Related Physiological and Pathological Processes In Vivo Using a Multifunctional NIR‐II Probe
Authors: Li Daifeng , Qu Chunrong , Liu Qiang , Wu Yifan , Hu Xiang , Qian Kun , Chang Baisong , He Shuqing , Yuan Ying , Li Yizhou , Ko Timothy , Yu Aixi , Cheng Zhen
Published: November 2019

The dysfunction of the circulatory system leads to various pathological processes with high morbidity. Recently, fluorescence imaging in the near‐infrared II (NIR‐II) window (1000–1700 nm) has attracted immense attention in many biological processes. The rapid metabolism and low toxicity of some NIR‐II organic small molecules indicate their feasibility for use in visualizing the circulatory system. However, most of the reported NIR‐II organic small molecules presently encounter such dilemmas as complicated synthetic procedures and low quantum yields (QY). To address this challenge, a series of facilely prepared NIR‐II organic small molecule CQ‐T (CQ‐1‐4T) are designed and these compounds are loaded with biocompatible human serum albumin (HSA) to improve QY. Among them, CQL (CQ‐4T/HSA) demonstrates superior optical properties and a 6.65‐fold increase in fluorescence compared to the small molecule alone. Further work validates the efficacy and accuracy of CQL in monitoring the real‐time circulatory system‐related physiological and pathological processes in vivo, including thrombosis, peripheral arterial disease, tumor angiogenesis, and lymphatic drainage. Moreover, the excellent optical properties of CQL enable precise tumor resection and sentinel lymph node biopsy under NIR‐II navigation. In conclusion, CQL is a novel and promising NIR‐II organic probe with multifunctional imaging capability. It is highly desirable to accelerate its future translations into the clinic.
Flexible Integrated Sensors: Transverse Piezoresistance and Longitudinal Thermal Resistance of One Single Carbon Fiber Beam
Authors: Huang Jingcheng , Chen Guoning , Hu Xiaoyan , Li Songhui , Wen Jingxiu , Liang Baowen , Jin Ying , Lu Yong , Lao Kete , Fu Changguan , Chen Runbo , Deng Honggui , Li Zhundong , Yang Zihang , Wu Yingzhu , Yang Min , Huang Hui , Tang Xiufeng , Luo Jianyi
Published: November 2019

Electronic skins require to integrate multiple‐sensing functions to sense stimuli from the outside environment (such as pressure, temperature, and humidity), and to distinguish the signals from the different stimuli. Here, reported is the feasibility to use only one single carbon fiber beam (CFB) to simultaneously detect pressure and temperature changes from the outside environment, and the signals from pressure and temperature stimuli can be effectively distinguished through its transverse piezoresistance and longitudinal thermal resistance. This work also reveals that the transverse piezoresistance follows the electron quantum tunneling between the carbon fibers, while the longitudinal thermal resistance follows the impurity scattering mechanism. The flexible pressure sensors, temperature sensors, and their integrated sensors can be easily constructed like blocks to use the same material CFBs, and these sensors have demonstrated unique advantages in wearable healthcare monitoring devices and electronic skin products.
Impact of natural neuromedin‐B receptor variants on iron metabolism
Authors: Rametta Raffaela , Dongiovanni Paola , Baselli Guido A. , Pelusi Serena , Meroni Marica , Fracanzani Anna L. , Busti Fabiana , Castagna Annalisa , Scarlini Stefania , Corradini Elena , Pietrangelo Antonello , Girelli Domenico , Fargion Silvia , Valenti Luca
Published: November 2019

Iron overload heritability remains partly unexplained. By performing whole exome sequencing in three patients with a clinical phenotype of hemochromatosis not accounted by known genetic risk factors, we identified in all patients rare variants predicted to alter activity of Neuromedin‐B receptor (NMBR). Coding NMBR mutations were enriched in 129 patients with hereditary hemochromatosis or iron overload phenotype, as compared to ethnically matched controls, including 100 local healthy blood donors and 1000Genomes project participants (15.5% vs 5%, P = .0038 at burden test), and were associated with higher transferrin saturation in regular blood donors (P = .04). Consistently, in 191 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver, the most common low‐frequency p.L390 M variant was independently associated with higher ferritin (P = .03). In 58 individuals, who underwent oral iron challenge, carriage of the p.L390 M variant was associated with higher transferrin saturation and lower hepcidin release. Furthermore, the circulating concentration of the natural NMBR ligand, Neuromedin‐B, was reduced in response to iron challenge. It was also decreased in individuals carrying the p.L390 M variant and with hemochromatosis in parallel with increased transferrin saturation. In mice, Nmbr was induced by chronic dietary iron overload in the liver, gut, pancreas, spleen, and skeletal muscle, while Nmb was downregulated in gut, pancreas and spleen. Finally, Nmb amplified holo‐transferrin dependent induction of hepcidin in primary mouse hepatocytes, which was associated with Jak2 induction and abolished by the NMBR antagonist PD168368. In conclusion, NMBR natural variants were enriched in patients with iron overload, and associated with facilitated iron absorption, possibly related to a defect of iron‐induced hepcidin release.
A Pd‐Catalyzed Three‐Component Reaction and Hydrogenation Strategy to Prepare 2‐Functionalized Cyclic Ethers Involving a Radical Initiating C(sp3)‐H Activation
Authors: Wan Zi‐juan , Yuan Xiao‐feng , Xiao Tian , Wang Xiao‐rong , Luo Jun
Published: November 2019

A Pd‐catalyzed three‐component reaction and hydrogenation strategy to prepare a series of 2‐functionalized cyclic ethers with high to excellent yields was established. A plausible reaction mechanism for the three‐component coupling of N‐tosylhydrazones, aryl halides and cyclic ethers was proposed, which involves a radical initiating α‐C(sp3)‐H activation of the ethers and addition at β‐position of the palladium carbene‐derived α‐substituted styrenes. The resulting free radicals would undergo a disproportionation reaction to afford 2‐(2′,2′‐diarylvinyl)ethers and 2‐(2′,2′‐diarylethyl)ethers. The latter could also be formed from the oxidation of the free radicals via benzylic cations.