Rapid Development and Optimization of Tablet Manufacturing Using Statistical Tools

The purpose of this paper was to develop a statistical methodology to optimize tablet manufacturing considering drug chemical and physical properties applying a crossed experimental design. The assessed model drug was dried ferrous sulphate and the variables were the hardness and the relative proportions of three excipients, binder, filler and disintegrant. Granule properties were modeled as a function of excipient proportions and tablet parameters were defined by the excipient proportion and hardness. The desirability function was applied to achieve optimal values for excipient proportions and hardness. In conclusion, crossed experimental design using hardness as the only process variable is an efficient strategy to quickly determine the optimal design process for tablet manufacturing. This method can be applied for any tablet manufacturing method.     

Scissors as Symbols: Disputed Ownership of the Tools of Biomedical Obstetrics in Rural Indonesia

In the hands of both traditional and clinic midwives in rural Indonesia a simple biomedical tool, umbilical cord scissors, has come to develop a social life that symbolizes potential futures. In rural Indonesian villages resources are limited, maternal and infant mortality rates are high, and there is robust competition for both patients and status between traditional and clinic midwives, all set against nationalist pressure to "modernize." The perceived right to use the umbilical cord scissors in a professional setting is contested. The folk midwives use the umbilical cord scissors to publically reference access to biomedical obstetric knowledge, a domain claimed by clinic midwives. This paper explores the way that the traditional midwives construct a hybrid modern identity by marking a place for traditional and biomedical obstetric systems in the treatment of childbirth. Further, this paper argues that traditional midwives use the symbolically laden umbilical cord scissors in their attempt to remain locally relevant and to circumvent the mission of the clinic programs to eradicate their practice.     

Cassava Breeding: Current Status, Bottlenecks and the Potential of Biotechnology Tools

Cassava is an important energy source in the diets of millions of people in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is a key subsistence crop, and its industrial uses are steadily growing. In spite of its economic and social relevance, relatively little investment has been made for research on cassava. However, conventional breeding resulted in more stable production through enhanced tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses; increased productivity, both in fresh root production and increased dry matter content; and, more recently, improvements in qualitative traits such as starch quality and increased carotenoids content. The inbreeding of cassava has been identified as a key step for more efficient genetic improvement of the crop, therefore, research is underway to develop protocol(s) for the production of doubled haploids. Marker-assisted selection has been successfully applied to cassava, but in a more modest scale compared with other crops. More support and emphasis is needed on practical applications of molecular marker technology in cassava improvement. The availability of more efficient genotyping approaches and the cassava genome sequence promise to increase the impact of biotechnology tools on cassava improvement. Efficient and reliable phenotyping of cassava remains a challenging goal to achieve in the near future.     

Symbols and Terminology in Biometry

The many biologists whose work requires statistical science must be concerned for sound management and interpretation of quantitative data. Biometricians also need increased care for literacy and clarity in speech and writing, with precise phrasing for every numerical statement. This paper illustrates common confusions that arise from inexact terminology, or from words and symbols used without adequate definition. Careless statements on quantitative relations, or on probabilities, may be ambiguous; bad practices seriously pollute scientific journals and obstruct transmission of information. Such faults can affect daily life for a modern citizen. Pedantry is unwanted, and to be dogmatic about corrective measures would be stupid. This paper suggests that biologists and biometricians should examine the practicability of a system yet to be devised for standardizing use of symbols and the generally accepted terminology for the methods, techniques, and processes of statistical analysis. The outcome should influence all that we biometricians say and do — as authors, as consultants, and as referees for journals.     

Modeling and Monitoring Tools to Assess Recovery Status and Convergence Rates between Restored and Undisturbed Coral Reef Habitats

Abstract Boating activities are an increasing source of physical damage to coral reefs worldwide. The damage caused by ship groundings can be significant and may result in a shift in reef structure and function. In this study we evaluate the status of two restoration projects established in 1995, 6 years after two freighters, the M/V Maitland and the M/V Elpis, ran aground on reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Our approach includes field monitoring in support of simulation model development to assess the effectiveness of the restoration efforts. A population model was developed for the coral Porites astreoides to project the convergence rates of coral abundance and population size structure between the restored and surrounding reference habitats. Coral communities are developing rapidly on the restoration structures. Species richness and abundance of the dominant coral, P. astreoides, were nearly indistinguishable between the restoration structures and reference habitats after only 6 years. However, although abundance and size structure of P. astreoides populations are rapidly approaching those of the reference habitats (a convergence in size structure within 10 years was simulated), maximum coral size will take twice as long to converge for this species. The sensitivity of the model to maximum recruitment rates highlights the importance of recruitment on the recovery rates of restored habitats, suggesting that special attention should be afforded to provide coral recruits with appropriate recruitment substrate at the time of restoration. Finally, the rates of convergence and, hence, the level of success of a restoration effort were shown to be influenced not only by the recruitment and survivorship rates of corals on the restoration structures but by the characteristics of the reference population as well. Accordingly, reference populations ought to be considered a “moving target” against which restoration success has to be measured dynamically. The simple, cost‐effective, monitoring–modeling approach presented here can provide the necessary tools to assess the current status of a restoration effort and to project the time required for coral populations to resemble those found on undamaged reference habitats     

Biosymbols: Symbols in Life and Mind

The strong continuity thesis postulates that the properties of mind are an enriched version of the properties of life, and thus that life and mind differ in degree and not kind. A philosophical problem for this view is the ostensive discontinuity between humans and other animals in virtue of our use of symbols—particularly the presumption that the symbolic nature of human cognition bears no relation to the basic properties of life. In this paper, we make the case that a genuine account of strong continuity requires the identification of some sort of correlate of symbol-use in basic life properties. Our strategy is three-fold: 1) we argue that examples of proto-symbolism in simple living systems would be consistent with an evolutionary trajectory that ultimately produced symbolic cognition in humans; 2) we introduce Gordon Tomkins’ biological notion of ‘symbol’ as something that represents to the organism a feature of its environment that is significant to its survival; and 3) we employ this biological understanding of symbol-use to suggest that the symbolic nature of human cognition can be understood as an enriched version of the basic symbolic properties of life, thus preserving life-mind continuity in this context.     

Symbols are not uniquely human

Modern semiotics is a branch of logics that formally defines symbol-based communication. In recent years, the semiotic classification of signs has been invoked to support the notion that symbols are uniquely human. Here we show that alarm-calls such as those used by African vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops), logically satisfy the semiotic definition of symbol. We also show that the acquisition of vocal symbols in vervet monkeys can be successfully simulated by a computer program based on minimal semiotic and neurobiological constraints. The simulations indicate that learning depends on the tutor-predator ratio, and that apprentice-generated auditory mistakes in vocal symbol interpretation have little effect on the learning rates of apprentices (up to 80% of mistakes are tolerated). In contrast, just 10% of apprentice-generated visual mistakes in predator identification will prevent any vocal symbol to be correctly associated with a predator call in a stable manner. Tutor unreliability was also deleterious to vocal symbol learning: a mere 5% of "lying" tutors were able to completely disrupt symbol learning, invariably leading to the acquisition of incorrect associations by apprentices. Our investigation corroborates the existence of vocal symbols in a non-human species, and indicates that symbolic competence emerges spontaneously from classical associative learning mechanisms when the conditioned stimuli are self-generated, arbitrary and socially efficacious. We propose that more exclusive properties of human language, such as syntax, may derive from the evolution of higher-order domains for neural association, more removed from both the sensory input and the motor output, able to support the gradual complexification of grammatical categories into syntax.     

Symbols, Meaning, and Origins of Mind

The mind maps symbols and the extra-symbolic relationships amongst them to specific meanings. When symbols of various levels are placed in a hierarchical ordering, one may look at such ordered classes as distinct worlds where one class represents objects and the other represents the objects’ corresponding meanings. However, such an explanation can only be partial because the number of potential levels in such an ordering is infinite and, therefore, it engenders problems of recursion and infinite regress. There are also logical problems in the form of paradoxes that emanate from the consideration of sets of sets. Given that most prior studies only consider symbols that are classical objects in associative relationships, we argue that there is a need to also consider objects with shifting boundaries and quantum objects. We believe that objects belonging to each of these three classes—that is classical objects, objects with shifting boundaries, and quantum objects—play a role in the workings of the mind.     

Geochemical and Statistical Evaluation of Heavy Metal Status in the Region around Jinxi River,China

China's rapid industrialization and mining activities have led to rigorous deterioration in the quality of soil and water. This study aimed at evaluating the environmental impacts of industrial activities around the Jinxi River using geochemical and statistical methods. To attain this aim, water and sediment samples were collected from 14 sites along the Jinxi River and around Lake Qingshan, and analyzed for their concentrations of heavy metals using ICP-mass. The results show that the concentrations of studied heavy metals didn't exceed the maximum permissible limits (MPL) in water, except for Fe and Cu. For sediment analysis, according to sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), the studied sediment samples varied from non-polluted to heavy rate for Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Mn, Zn, and Fe and non-polluted for Cd and Pb. In addition, the sites adjacent to Lina’n City were significantly enriched with Cr, Cu, Cd, and Zn and extremely enriched with As and Se. Principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation analyses revealed that an anthropogenic source was the main source for heavy metals in the river system. We concluded that geochemical and statistical analyses can provide useful information for water quality assessment. Furthermore, the Chinese government should formulate strict laws to prevent the water streams from contamination.     

Dicent Symbols in Non-Human Semiotic Processes

Against the view that symbol-based semiosis is a human cognitive uniqueness, we have argued that non-human primates such as African vervet monkeys possess symbolic competence, as formally defined by Charles S. Peirce. Here I develop this argument by showing that the equivocal role ascribed to symbols by ??folk semiotics?? stems from an incomplete application of the Peircean logical framework for the classification of signs, which describes three kinds of symbols: rheme, dicent and argument. In an attempt to advance in the classifying semiotic processes, Peirce proposed several typologies, with different degrees of refinement. Around 1903, he developed a division into ten classes. According to this typology, symbols can be further analysed in three subclasses (rheme, dicent, argument). I proceed to demonstrate that vervet monkeys employ dicent symbols. There are remarkable implications of this argument since ??symbolic species theory?? fails to explore the vast Peircean semiotic philosophy to frame questions regarding the emergence and evolution of symbolic processes.