共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 15 毫秒
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Renuka M. Sharma 《Journal of bioethical inquiry》2007,4(3):181-192
This paper discusses the persistent devaluation of the girl child in India and the link between the entrenched perception
of female valuelessness and the actual practice of infanticide of girl babies or foetuses. It seeks to place female infanticide,
or ‘gendercide,’ within the context of Western-derived conceptions of ethics, justice and rights. To date, current ethical
theories and internationally purveyed moral frameworks, as well as legal and political declarations, have fallen short of
an adequate moral appraisal of infanticide. This paper seeks to rethink the issue.
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Renuka M. SharmaEmail: |
3.
Brett Calcott 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(5):639-657
According to Pigliucci and Kaplan, there is a revolution underway in how we understand fitness landscapes. Recent models suggest
that a perennial problem in these landscapes—how to get from one peak across a fitness valley to another peak—is, in fact,
non-existent. In this paper I assess the structure and the extent of Pigliucci and Kaplan’s proposed revolution and argue
for two points. First, I provide an alternative interpretation of what underwrites this revolution, motivated by some recent
work on model-based science. Second, I show that the implications of this revolution need to carefully assessed depending on question being asked,
for peak-shifting is not central to all evolutionary questions that fitness landscapes have been used to explore.
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Brett CalcottEmail: |
4.
Hanno Sandvik 《Biology & philosophy》2009,24(4):425-440
Both written and graphic accounts of history can be biased by the perspective of the historian. O’Hara (Biol Philos 7:135–160,
1992) has demonstrated that this also applies to evolutionary history and its historians, and identified four narrative devices
that introduce anthropocentricisms into accounts of phylogeny. In the current paper, I identify a fifth such narrative device,
viz. the left–right ordering of the taxa at the tips of cladograms. I define two measures that make it possible to quantify
the degree of anthropocentricism of cladograms, the human attention score and human rightness score. I then carry out an analysis
of the presence of the different distorting mechanisms in phylogenetic textbooks. I deliberately chose two textbooks that
adopted a cladistic perspective, since their authors can be assumed to be more conscious about the aim of avoiding anthropocentricisms.
Three of the narrative devices are thus absent from cladistic works. However, there is a weak tendency that the resolution
of cladogram branches is biased in favour of Homo sapiens. Furthermore, the human perspective is clear and highly significant in the positioning of taxa along the left–right axis
of cladograms. I discuss the reasons for and implications of these biased presentations.
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Hanno SandvikEmail: |
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This paper examines the biosemiotic approach to the study of life processes by fashioning a series of questions that any worthwhile
semiotic study of life should ask. These questions can be understood simultaneously as: (1) questions that distinguish a semiotic
biology from a non-semiotic (i.e., reductionist–physicalist) one; (2) questions that any student in biosemiotics should ask
when doing a case study; and (3) still currently unanswered questions of biosemiotics. In addition, some examples of previously
undertaken biosemiotic case studies are examined so as to suggest a broad picture of how such a biosemiotic approach to biology
might be done.
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Donald FavareauEmail: |
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Chi-Li Yu Daniel Ferraro S. Ramaswamy Mark H. Schmitz Wayne F. Schaefer David T. Gibson 《Environmental Biology of Fishes》2008,82(1):51-58
A blue protein present in the mucus coating blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus, was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified protein
has a molecular mass of 87,850 and is a homotetramer with a subunit molecular mass of 21,836. Solutions of the protein are
deep blue in color and show absorbance maxima at 383 and 633 nm, respectively. Acetone treatment of the protein releases a
blue chromophore with the spectral characteristics of biliverdin IXα. The results suggest that the blue protein is a new biliprotein
that we have termed Sandercyanin. The function of Sandercyanin is unknown, but limited amino acid sequence analysis suggests
it is a lipocalin that may be involved in the transport of heme degradation products.
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David T. GibsonEmail: |
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Peter Godfrey-Smith 《Biology & philosophy》2007,22(3):429-437
Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary
change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence
properties is also discussed.
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Peter Godfrey-SmithEmail: |
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M. Irfan-Ullah Giriraj Amarnath M. S. R. Murthy A. Townsend Peterson 《Biodiversity and Conservation》2007,16(6):1917-1925
Aglaia bourdillonii is a plant narrowly endemic to the southern portion of the Western Ghats (WG), in peninsular India. To understand its ecological
and geographic distribution, we used ecological niche modeling (ENM) based on detailed distributional information recently
gathered, in relation to detailed climatic data sets. The ENMs successfully reconstructed key features of the species’ geographic
distribution, focusing almost entirely on the southern WG. Much of the species’ distributional potential is already under
protection, but our analysis allows identification of key zones for additional protection, all of which are adjacent to existing
protected areas. ENM provides a useful tool for understanding the natural history of such rare and endangered species.
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M. Irfan-UllahEmail: Email: |
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Jay Odenbaugh 《Biology & philosophy》2006,21(5):607-621
In this essay, I argue for four related claims. First, Richard Levins’ classic “The Strategy of Model Building in Population
Biology” was a statement and defense of theoretical population biology growing out of collaborations between Robert MacArthur,
Richard Lewontin, E. O. Wilson, and others. Second, I argue that the essay served as a response to the rise of systems ecology
especially as pioneered by Kenneth Watt. Third, the arguments offered by Levins against systems ecology and in favor of his
own methodological program are best construed as “pragmatic”. Fourth, I consider limitations of Levins’ arguments given contemporary
population biology.
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Jay OdenbaughEmail: |
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Brad E. Erisman Jorge A. Rosales-Casián Philip A. Hastings 《Environmental Biology of Fishes》2008,82(1):23-33
The sexual pattern and sexual development of the leopard grouper, Mycteroperca rosacea, were investigated from 483 specimens collected from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Histological and population data indicated
a gonochoric sexual pattern. Some juveniles passed through an immature bisexual phase of gonadal development, but no evidence
of post-maturational sex change was found. The immature bisexual phase is believed to be associated only with male development.
The size distribution and size at sexual maturity were similar for both males and females. In accordance with predictions
of the size-advantage model, the gonochoric sexual pattern of M. rosacea is likely influenced by its group-spawning mating system.
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Brad E. ErismanEmail: |
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Michael Weisberg 《Biology & philosophy》2006,21(5):623-645
This paper is an interpretation and defense of Richard Levins’ “The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology,” which
has been extremely influential among biologists since its publication 40 years ago. In this article, Levins confronted some
of the deepest philosophical issues surrounding modeling and theory construction. By way of interpretation, I discuss each
of Levins’ major philosophical themes: the problem of complexity, the brute-force approach, the existence and consequence
of tradeoffs, and robustness analysis. I argue that Levins’ article is concerned, at its core, with justifying the use of
multiple, idealized models in population biology.
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Michael WeisbergEmail: |
13.
In 2001 Carijoa riisei, an octocoral native to the tropical Western Atlantic, was discovered overgrowing black corals in the Au’au Channel in Hawaii.
In this paper data from a 2001 survey are reanalyzed and combined with new data from 2003 and 2004 to assess the ecological
impact in greater detail. C. riisei differentially affected reproductively mature black coral colonies with maximum impact between 80 and 105 m. The pattern
of C. riisei overgrowth on black corals and C. riisei on the substrata appears to be bounded by high irradiance in shallow water and cold temperature in deep water. Evidence suggests
that the C. riisei settlement on black corals is facilitated by other epifauna. Once established, C. riisei spreads vegetatively and smothers the coral. The success of the C. riisei invasion appears to be unaided by anthropogenic disturbance and is at least partially attributable to Hawaii’s depauperate
shallow-water (<100 m) octocoral fauna.
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Richard W. GriggEmail: |
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Paul F. Cannon Nigel L. Hywel-Jones Norbert Maczey Lungten Norbu Tshitila Tashi Samdup Phurba Lhendup 《Biodiversity and Conservation》2009,18(9):2263-2281
The insect-pathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis (better known as Cordyceps sinensis) is harvested over much of the Himalayan plateau as a highly prized remedy in traditional Oriental medicine. Over the past
10 years its financial value has increased dramatically, with collectors paid as much as US $12,500 kg−1 for top-quality material. This is causing significant distortion to local economies, and there is widespread concern that
the current rate of collection is unsustainable. This paper introduces the fungus and its insect hosts, documents some of
the biological and social constraints to achieving sustainability, describes the socioeconomic climate within which harvest
and sale occurs in Bhutan, and details the measures put in place by the Royal Government of Bhutan to promote wise management
of this valuable natural resource.
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Paul F. CannonEmail: |
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John S. Wilkins 《Biology & philosophy》2008,23(5):659-671
In 1988, David Hull presented an evolutionary account of science. This was a direct analogy to evolutionary accounts of biological
adaptation, and part of a generalized view of Darwinian selection accounts that he based upon the Universal Darwinism of Richard
Dawkins. Criticisms of this view were made by, among others, Kim Sterelny, which led to it gaining only limited acceptance.
Some of these criticisms are, I will argue, no longer valid in the light of developments in the formal modeling of evolution,
in particular that of Sergey Gavrilets’ work on adaptive landscapes. If we can usefully recast the Hullian view of science
as being driven by selection in terms of Gavrilets’ and Kaufmann’s view of there being “giant components” of high-fitness
networks through any realistic adaptive landscape, we may now find it useful to ask what the adaptive pressures on science
are, and to extend the metaphor into a full analogy. This is in effect to reconcile the Fisherianism of the Dawkins–Hull approach
to selection and replicators, with a Wrightean drift account of social constructionist views of science, preserving, it is
to be hoped, the valuable aspects of both.
相似文献
John S. WilkinsEmail: |
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Russell Powell 《Biology & philosophy》2007,22(4):565-578
A number of authors have pointed to “convergent evolution” as evidence for the central role of natural selection in shaping
predictable trajectories of macroevolution. However, there are numerous conceptual and empirical difficulties that arise in
broadly appealing to the frequency of homoplasy as evidence for a non-contingently constrained adaptational design space.
Most important is the need to distinguish between convergent (externally constrained) and parallel (internally constrained)
evolution, and to consider how the respective frequencies of these significantly different sources of homoplasy affect a strong
adaptationist view of life. In this paper, I critically evaluate Simon Conway Morris’s use of the homoplasy literature to
support his argument for a non-contingent, counterfactually stable account of macroevolutionary pattern. In so doing, I offer
a conception of parallelism which avoids the charge that it differs from convergence merely in degree and not in kind. I argue
that although organisms sharing a homoplastic trait will also share varying degrees of homology, it is the underlying developmental
homology with respect to the generators directly causally responsible for the homoplastic event that defines parallel evolution
and non-arbitrarily distinguishes it from convergence. The notion of “screening-off” is used to distinguish the proximal generators
of a homoplastic trait from its more distal genetic causes (such as a master control gene).
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Russell PowellEmail: |
18.
Large-scale scientific computing applications frequently make use of closely-coupled distributed parallel components. The
performance of such applications is therefore dependent on the component parts and their interaction at run-time. This paper
describes a methodology for predictive performance modelling and evaluation of parallel applications composed of multiple
interacting components. In this paper, the fundamental steps and required operations involved in the modelling and evaluation
process are identified—including component decomposition, component model combination, M×N communication modelling, dataflow analysis and overall performance evaluation. A case study is presented to illustrate the
modelling process and the methodology is verified through experimental analysis.
相似文献
Stephen A. JarvisEmail: |
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The Cauchy problem for one-dimensional spiking neuron models 总被引:1,自引:1,他引:0
Romain Brette 《Cognitive neurodynamics》2008,2(1):21-27
I consider spiking neuron models defined by a one-dimensional differential equation and a reset—i.e., neuron models of the
integrate-and-fire type. I address the question of the existence and uniqueness of a solution on for a given initial condition. It turns out that the reset introduces a countable and ordered set of backward solutions for
a given initial condition. I discuss the implications of these mathematical results in terms of neural coding and spike timing
precision.
相似文献
Romain BretteEmail: |
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