Perception and Conception: Shaping Human Minds

Perceptual experiences provide an important source of information about the world. It is clear that having the capacity of undergoing such experiences yields an evolutionary advantage. But why should humans have developed not only the ability of simply seeing, but also of seeing that something is thus and so? In this paper, I explore the significance of distinguishing perception from conception for the development of the kind of minds that creatures such as humans typically have. As will become clear, it is crucial to pay careful attention to the different kinds of information that are involved in perceiving and conceiving (including the way such information is gathered and transmitted). By identifying such kinds of information and the role they play, we can then understand an important feature of why creatures like us have the kind of consciousness and mental processes we do.     

From weird wonders to stem lineages: the second reclassification of the Burgess Shale fauna

The Burgess Shale, a set of fossil beds containing the exquisitely preserved remains of marine invertebrate organisms from shortly after the Cambrian explosion, was discovered in 1909, and first brought to widespread popular attention by Stephen Jay Gould in his 1989 bestseller Wonderful life: The Burgess Shale and the nature of history. Gould contrasted the initial interpretation of these fossils, in which they were 'shoehorned' into modern groups, with the first major reexamination begun in the 1960s, when the creatures were perceived as 'weird wonders', possessing unique body plans and unrelated to modern organisms. More recently, a third phase of Burgess Shale studies has arisen, which has not yet been historically examined. This third phase represents a revolutionary new understanding, brought about, I believe, by a change in taxonomic methodology that led to a new perception of the Burgess creatures, and a new way to comprehend their relationships with modern organisms. The adoption of cladistics, and its corollary, the stem group concept, has forged a new understanding of the Burgess Shale ... but has it also changed the questions we are allowed to ask about evolution?     

Active and Passive Physician‐Assisted Dying and the Terminal Disease Requirement

The view that voluntary active euthanasia and physician‐assisted suicide should be made available for terminal patients only is typically warranted by reference to the risks that the procedures are seen to involve. Though they would appear to involve similar risks, the commonly endorsed end‐of‐life practices referred to as passive euthanasia are available also for non‐terminal patients. In this article, I assess whether there is good reason to believe that the risks in question would be bigger in the case of voluntary active euthanasia and physician‐assisted suicide than in that of passive euthanasia. I propose that there is not. On that basis, I suggest that limiting access to voluntary active euthanasia and physician‐assisted suicide to terminal patients only is not consistent with accepting the existing practices of passive euthanasia.     

Ecology's dark matter: The elusive and enigmatic niche

Ecologists are often frustrated that their universe, populated by strange and wilful creatures, seems fuzzy and unpredictable. Physicists, in contrast, seem to have it much better. But that's because we usually focus on Newtonian physics. In fact, physicists seem happy to live with all kinds of strange beasts, including dark matter, something they have never seen, but which they nevertheless believe makes up most of the matter in the universe. Here I argue that niches are ecology's dark matter. We are embarrassed by them, because we do not quite know what they are, and yet their presence can be universally felt; otherwise, ecological communities, like galaxies without dark matter, would simply collapse. I describe how we could potentially better describe these dark shapes that haunt our science and why this is important. In particular, I present the outline of a method for demonstrating whether or not plant species have complementary resource-use niches; something that has been difficult to show unequivocally. The presence of such resource-use niches would put to rest once and for all the notion of species equivalence and the neutral world that this assumption entails. I conclude that ecologists should take a leaf out of the physicists’ book and accept that the continued search for the esoteric niche is a legitimate and central (if frustrating) part of ecology.     

Dreaming of dragons: on the imagination of real life

This article draws on studies of medieval monasticism and northern indigenous ontologies to show how we might heal the rupture between the real world and our imagination of it, which underpins the official procedures of modern science. Though science is not averse to dreams of the imagination as potential sources of novel insight, they are banished from the reality it seeks to uncover. Ever since Bacon and Galileo, nature has been thought of as a book that will not willingly give up its secrets to human readers. The idea of the book of nature, however, dates from medieval times. For medieval readers as for indigenous hunters, creatures would speak and offer counsel. But in the transition to modernity the book was silenced. This article suggests that by acknowledging our imaginative participation in a more‐than‐human world, and the commitments this entails, we can reconcile scientific inquiry with religious sensibility as ways of knowing in being.     

Naturalizing cruelty

Cruelty is widely regarded to be a uniquely human trait. This follows from a standard definition of cruelty as involving the deliberate infliction of suffering together with the empirical claim that humans are unique in their ability to attribute suffering (or any mental state) to other creatures. In this paper I argue that this definition is not optimum for the purposes of scientific inquiry. I suggest that its intuitive appeal stems from our abhorrence of cruelty, and our corresponding desire to define cruelty in such a way that it is almost always morally wrong. Scientifically speaking this is an arbitrary condition that inhibits our attempt to study cruelty as a natural phenomenon. I propose a fully naturalized definition of cruelty, one that considerably expands the range of creatures and behaviors that may be conceived as cruel.     

Ecological and Phylogenetic Correlates to Body Size in the Indriidae

I investigated ecological and phylogenetic correlates to body size variations in 10 taxa of extant Indriidae (Indri, Avahi, and Propithecus). I also tested for phylogenetic niche conservatism as a model for the evolution of indriid body size. Phylogenetic niche conservatism refers to the shared attributes that related taxa have acquired because they tend to have occupied similar niches during their evolutionary history. I collected species-specific data on body mass, climate, density, and chemical properties of food items from the literature. I used 2 phylogenies in independent contrasts methods to control for phylogenetic relationships (Indri and Propithecus as sister taxa vs. Indri basal taxa to all indriids). Multivariate models indicated that lemur density and resource quality are the strongest ecological correlates to indriid body size variations. Partitioning methods revealed that 52.4–67% of indriid body size variation is explained by phylogenetic niche conservation. Thus, indriid body size variations may be the result of stabilizing selection. Though it is possible to identify constraints on lower than average body size, there are few data on selection against larger than average body size in indriids. Large body size in subfossil lemurs further complicates identification of constraints on larger than average body size in extant indriids. Researchers using independent contrast methods to control for phylogeny should be aware that some ecology-phenotype relationships are best explained as the result of the synergistic effects of ecology and phylogeny.     

Meet the new mammoth,same as the old? Resurrecting the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mammuthus primigenius</Emphasis>

Media reporters often announce that we are on the verge of bringing back the woolly mammoth, even while there is growing consensus among scientists that resurrecting the mammoth is unlikely. In fact, current “de-extinction” efforts are not designed to bring back a mammoth, but rather adaptations of the mammoth using close relatives. For example, Harvard scientists are working on creating an Asian elephant with the thick coat of a mammoth by merging mammoth and elephant DNA. But how should such creatures be classified? Are they elephants, mammoths, or both? Answering these questions requires getting clear about the concept of reproduction. What I hope to show is that with an appropriate notion of reproduction—one for which I will argue—resurrecting a member of Mammuthus primigenius is a genuine possibility.     

Spatial aspects of spontaneous object grouping by young chimpanzees(Pan troglodytes)

I report spontaneous spatial object grouping in five chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)ranging from 1 to 4 years of age. I recorded subjects' spontaneous interactions with groups of objects, noting the spatial relations in the groupings and the constructive processes that the subjects adopted. Though one subject developed vertical stacks, none of them realized horizontal alignments or spatial correspondences between groups. All subjects showed consistent trends in their constructive processes toward manipulating objects in relation to the body: they increasingly manipulated objects globally, that is to say, they moved or held objects together with the same part of the body. They also increasingly placed objects on the body or in correspondence to their symmetrical body parts. The increasing importance assigned by chimpanzees to body- object relations over object- object relations contrasts with human developmental trends in the domain of manipulative space.     

Defining and detecting crossover-interference mutants in yeast

The analysis of crossover interference in many creatures is complicated by the presence of two kinds of crossovers, interfering and noninterfering. In such creatures, the values of the traditional indicators of interference are subject not only to the strength of interference but also to the relative frequencies of crossing over contributed by the two kinds. We formalize the relationship among these variables and illustrate the possibilities and limitations of classical interference analysis with meiotic tetrad data from wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae and from mlh1 and ndj1 mutants.     

Kin-biased dispersal behaviour in the mango shield scale, Milviscutulus mangiferae

When fitness decreases with increasing density in a habitat, dispersal behaviour is expected to evolve. To avoid competition between kin, dispersal behaviour based on kin recognition should be more likely to occur when the individuals in a habitat are closely related. I tested this prediction with first-instar larvae (crawlers) of the mango shield scale, Milviscutulus mangiferae. The body size of adult females, a measure of fecundity, was larger when only one female was present on a leaf than when two were present. When I placed two crawlers on a leaf, they emigrated more frequently when they were siblings than when they were not related. I discuss the implication of the results for kin recognition in thelytokous parthenogenetic animals. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.     

The ethics of fish welfare

The topic of fish welfare in the context of commercial fisheries is a difficult one. From traditionally anthropocentric or human‐centred perspectives, fishes are simply objects for humans to use as they see fit. When it is argued that anthropocentrism is arbitrary, it may appear that a strong animal rights position is the only recourse, with the result that humans ought not to use animals in the first place, if it is at all possible. It can be argued that both positions fail to view human beings as part of the natural world. If human beings are viewed as part of the world from which they live, then it has to be asked what it means to be respectful of the animals which humans use and from which they live. From this perspective, concern for the welfare of the fishes humans eat is simply what should be expected from humans as good citizens in the community of living creatures.     

Desiccation resistance in megalopae of the terrestrial hermit crab Coenobita compressus: water loss and the role of the shell

Abstract. The terrestrial hermit crab Coenobita compressus H. M ilne E dwards undergoes larval development in the sea and then moves to land as a megalopa, where it metamorphoses and remains for the rest of its life. As a small organism (generally <3 mg), in a body adapted for pelagic life, the megalopa must avoid desiccating in air to make a successful sea-to-land transition. In this study, I measured rates of water loss in 1 to 26-day-old megalopae without mollusk shells to determine if there is an improvement in desiccation resistance with age. I also exposed 26-day-old megalopae with or without shells to different relative-humidity conditions for 1 h to determine if shells worn by megalopae allow them to function in air that is not fully saturated. Megalopae without shells did not survive exposure to a relative humidity (RH) of less than 99%, while those with shells survived 52% RH. Older megalopae lost water more slowly than younger ones. However, the amount of body water explained more of the variation in water-loss rate than age; individuals with smaller body-water masses showed lower rates of absolute water loss. Though megalopae of C. compressus become less water permeable as they approach metamorphosis on land, most of their ability to avoid desiccation comes from the shell. Shell-wearing can be considered a pre-adaptation to a terrestrial life-style because shell-wearing behavior predates land invasion in hermit crabs, and desiccation-proofing in air is a novel function for shells.     

Bodies of liquid water as a source of water gain for Ixodes ricinus ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)

It is well established that free-living unfed ticks can compensate for their inevitable body water losses by active water vapour absorption in periods of ambient relative humidity (RH) of greater than 75-90%. Whilst many species of terrestrial arthropods are known to be capable of locating liquid water and drinking when in need, the existing knowledge concerning the ecological significance of bulk water for rehydration in ticks is scarce. In the present laboratory study batches of unfed Ixodes ricinus (larvae, nymphs, and adults) in varying states of (de)hydration were supplied with tapwater either as droplets for 45 min in a Petri dish or in a small trough for 24 h. The body mass of each tick was gravimetrically determined before and after exposure. Though fully hydrated ticks were not usually attracted to liquid water, the response became increasingly positive with a growing body water deficit (p > 0.05). No tick was ever found with its mouthparts inserted into the water, nor had any tick residues of orange G in its alimentary tract when supplied with orange G-coloured water. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that water intake took place in a regulated manner in adult ticks, i.e. the more severely the ticks had been dehydrated the more net water they subsequently gained (p > 0.01). The maximum uptake rates were <20% of the original body mass per day. These findings indicate that unfed I. ricinus do not drink liquid water but are well able to use the high RH in the immediate vicinity of bulk water to actively take up vapour.     

微卫星序列及其应用

微卫星序列广泛存在于各类真核生物基因组中,一般为散在分布的中等程度重复序列。不同物种中,微卫星序列的含量以及占优势的微卫星序列类型各不相同。复制时,微卫星序列易于发生长度突变,这种突变与微卫星序列的复制滑移有关,同时也受多种因素的影响。微卫星序列可能是原微卫星序列通过复制滑移使序列长度扩增形成的。进化过程中,微卫星序列的长度变化维持在一定的范围内。由于微卫星标记多态性高、重复性好,并且操作简单,因此在基因的定位、人类疾病诊断及预测、亲权分析、品种鉴定、进化研究,以及动植物分子标记辅助选择育种研究等领域中都有着重要的应用价值。 Abstract:Microsatellites,simple sequence repeats (SSR),are abundant and distributed throughout the eukaryote genome.The contents of microsatellites are variant in different creatures.There are also different types of microsatellites,which are dominant in different creatures.One of the most noticeable characters of microsatellites is that they are easy to expand during DNA replication.It is thought to attribute to DNA slippage.This kind of mutation is affected by many factors.It is guessed that microsatellites come from pro-microsatellites,while the pro-microsatellites origin from random point mutations.The length of microsatellites can be maintained under relative conservative ranges during species evolution.As they are abundant,codominatnt,distributed over the euchromatic part of the genome,and have the character of highly polimorphic,microsatellites are useful tools for gene mapping,clinical diagnosis and predicting,paternity or pedigree analysis,evolution study,and marker-assisted breeding.     

Refinement of the dosage and dosing schedule of ketoprofen for postoperative analgesia in Sprague-Dawley rats

Though ketoprofen is commonly used in rodent surgical procedures, an optimal dosing regimen has not yet been established. The authors sought to refine ketoprofen dosage requirements in rats and to determine whether one or two doses were needed. In one experiment they compared the effects of one preoperative dose of ketoprofen with those of two perioperative doses (3 mg per kg body weight). In a second experiment they compared the effects of two different dosages of ketoprofen (3 or 5 mg per kg body weight). Results show that all regimens tested were similarly effective in curbing post-surgical weight loss and reduction in food and water consumption; therefore, a single dose of 3 mg per kg body weight was the most efficient.     

The Body as Gift,Resource or Commodity? Heidegger and the Ethics of Organ Transplantation

Three metaphors appear to guide contemporary thinking about organ transplantation. Although the gift is the sanctioned metaphor for donating organs, the underlying perspective from the side of the state, authorities and the medical establishment often seems to be that the body shall rather be understood as a resource. The acute scarcity of organs, which generates a desperate demand in relation to a group of potential suppliers who are desperate to an equal extent, leads easily to the gift’s becoming, in reality, not only a resource, but also a commodity. In this paper, the claim is made that a successful explication of the gift metaphor in the case of organ transplantation and a complementary defence of the ethical primacy of the giving of organs need to be grounded in a philosophical anthropology which considers the implications of embodiment in a different and more substantial way than is generally the case in contemporary bioethics. I show that Heidegger’s phenomenology offers such an alternative, with the help of which we can understand why body parts could and, indeed, under certain circumstances, should be given to others in need, but yet are neither resources nor properties to be sold. The phenomenological exploration in question is tied to fundamental questions about what kind of relationship we have to our own bodies, as well as about what kind of relationship we have to each other as human beings sharing the same being-in-the-world as embodied creatures.     

Why do hoarding birds gain fat in winter in the wrong way? Suggestions from a dynamic model

In winter, small birds should be fat to avoid starvation andlean and agile to escape predators. This means that they facea trade-off between the costs and benefits of carrying fat reserves.Every day they must gain enough fat to survive the coming night.Food-hoarding species can afford to carry less fat than nonhoardersbecause they can store energy outside the body. Furthermore, hoardersshould avoid carrying excessive fat during the day because theycan gain fat fast by retrieving food late in the afternoon.With no stored supplies, nonhoarders face more unpredictableaccess to food, and they should start gaining fat earlier inthe day. The predicted pattern is then that nonhoarders gainfat early and that hoarders gain fat late in the day. Recent fielddata show the opposite pattern: hoarders gain relatively morefat reserves in the morning than nonhoarders do. Using a dynamicmodel that mimics the conditions in a boreal winter forest,I investigated under which conditions this pattern will arise.The only assumption of those investigated that produced thispattern was to relax the effect of mass-dependent predation risk.I did this by introducing a limit under which fat reserves didnot affect predation risk. Hoarders then started the day bygaining fat in the morning. Later, when they had reached a safer(but still not risky) level, they switched to hoarding. Thepattern I searched would only occur if either not all food waspossible to store, or if retrieval gave less energy than foragingin good weather conditions. If I assumed that low levels ofbody fat also increased predation risk, hoarders would cachein the morning when they carried least fat. I discuss empiricalevidence for how body fat affects predation risk. In summary,the factors that produced the pattern I searched were a changein the predation-mortality function combined with restrictions onhoarding.     

A preliminary report of phylogenetic diversity of bacterial strains isolated from marine creatures

Bacterial diversity among marine creatures, especially molluscs, as a source for searching out novel lineages of bacteria, was studied. Marine creatures were collected at the coasts of the Kanto area in Japan. A total of 116 strains of bacteria were isolated from the intestines of 19 species of marine creatures includings molluscs, pisces and protochordata. Partial sequencing of 16S rDNA revealed that most of the isolates belonged to the gamma subclass of the Proteobacteria and Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group. The BLAST searches revealed that the complete 16S rDNA sequence of 17 strains out of 116 isolates showed less than 94% similarity with 16S rDNA sequences deposited in the database. Four strains out of the 17 isolates belonged to the Rhodobacter group, 8 strains to the Alteromonas group, and the remaining 5 strains to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group. Phylogenetic positions of 6 strains belonging to the Alteromonas group, which were isolated from different marine creatures, were close to each other, and represented a novel 16S rDNA lineage within the gamma subclass of Proteobacteria. Therefore, it may be inferred that these 6 strains belong to a new genus of Proteobacteria. Phylogenetic positions of the other strains are also independent from neighboring taxa, and they were suggested to respectively form a novel lineage. From these results, it is clear that the biodiversity of bacteria in marine creatures is much wider than was previously thought, and unknown microbiological resources are buried in these organisms.