Lacepède’s Syncretic Contribution to the Debates on Natural History in France Around 1800

Lacepède was a key figure in the French intellectual world from the Old Regime to the Restoration, sinc e he was not only a scientist, but also a musician, a writer, and a politician. His brilliant career is a good example of the progress of the social status of scientists in France around 1800. In the life sciences, he was considered the heir to Buffon and continued the latter’s Histoire naturelle, but he also borrowed ideas from anti-Buffonian (e.g. Linnaean) scientists. He broached many important subjects such as the nature of man, the classification of animals, the concept of species, and the history of the Earth. All these topics led to tensions in the French sciences, but Lacepède dealt with them in a consensual, indeed even ambiguous way. For example, he held transformist views, but his concept of evolution was far less precise and daring than Lamarck’s contemporaneous attempts. His somewhat confused eclecticism allowed him to be accepted by opposing camps of the French scientific community at that time and makes his case interesting for historians, since the opinions of such an opportunistic figure can illuminate the figure of the French intellectual better than more original works could do. In turn, Lacepède’s important social and scientific position gave his views a significant visibility. In this sense, his contributions probably exerted an influence, in particular with regard to the emergence of transformist theories.     

The Physician of the Future

The good physician of the future will need to master not only the basic and traditional medical skills but many new concepts and techniques as well. He will need to be, as always, a compassionate and intelligent man. If he is to retain his status as a healer in the eyes of his patients, he will have to be fully aware of what is happening in the social and technological environment, or he will run the risk of being relegated to the position of a high-grade technician.He will have new physical tools and new thinking tools to help him. To understand and use these, and also to understand the technical world of the future, he will need a sound knowledge of the physical sciences and some fluency in the language of modern mathematics.     

Egomotion and relative depth map from optical flow

When an observer moves in a 3D world, optical flow fields are generated on his retina. We argue that such an observer can in principle compute the parameters of his egomotion, and following this, the relative depth map of the stationary environment solely from the instantaneous positional velocity fields (IPVF). Moreover, we argue that in the stationary world, this analysis can be done locally, and is not dependent on global properties of the optical flow under the imposed constraints (smoothness of the egomotion path, rigidity of objects, temporal continuity of perception). To investigate the method, and to analyze its performance, a computer model has been constructed which simulates an observer moving through a 3D world of stationary rectangular planes at different depths and orientations. The results suggest that the method offers a reasonable and computationally feasible means of extracting information about egomotion and surface layout from optical flows, under certain circumstances. We discuss some issues related to extending the analysis to the case of a rigid world of moving objects, and some issues related to the status of information extractable from optical flows with respect to other sources of information.     

Atsushi Komamine (1929–2011): a tribute

Atsushi Komamine was one of the pioneers of plant tissue culture in Japan and a researcher with many friends throughout the world. His objective was to determine the potential capacities of plant cells, and he contributed considerably to plant tissue cultivation research by establishing several unique culture systems that controlled cell division and differentiation. He emphasized that the uniformity of cultured cells and the synchrony of the plant cell response at a high frequency were necessary to study the functions of plant cells using biochemical and molecular biological methods. He trained over 300 people, and many outstanding individuals in academia and industry emerged under his tutelage. He was an outstanding mentor: with his accommodating attitude, he was loved dearly by students and foreign researchers alike. He set up the Asia Pacific Association of Plant Tissue Culture and Agribiotechnology in 2000, and he established the international journal Plant Biotechnology Reports with Jang R. Liu in 2006, thereby contributing to Asian plant sciences. In addition to describing his achievements and activities, this article aims to paint a portrait of the man himself.     

Quantum microbiology

During his famous 1943 lecture series at Trinity College Dublin, the reknown physicist Erwin Schrodinger discussed the failure and challenges of interpreting life by classical physics alone and that a new approach, rooted in Quantum principles, must be involved. Quantum events are simply a level of organization below the molecular level. This includes the atomic and subatomic makeup of matter in microbial metabolism and structures, as well as the organic, genetic information code of DNA and RNA. Quantum events at this time do not elucidate, for example, how specific genetic instructions were first encoded in an organic genetic code in microbial cells capable of growth and division, and its subsequent evolution over 3.6 to 4 billion years. However, due to recent technological advances, biologists and physicists are starting to demonstrate linkages between various quantum principles like quantum tunneling, entanglement and coherence in biological processes illustrating that nature has exerted some level quantum control to optimize various processes in living organisms. In this article we explore the role of quantum events in microbial processes and endeavor to show that after nearly 67 years, Schr?dinger was prophetic and visionary in his view of quantum theory and its connection with some of the fundamental mechanisms of life.     

The changing face of "real research"

Over the past 50 years, the research agenda of clinical departments in teaching hospitals has broadened from one concerned primarily with physiologic studies to one that includes biochemistry, molecular biology, the quantitative analytic sciences, anthropology, and other social sciences. This memoir presents examples of such changes and provides examples of how the author's involvement has been promoted not only by his mentors, but also by those whom he has mentored.     

Edward O. Wilson and the Organicist Tradition

Edward O. Wilson’s recent decision to abandon kin selection theory has sent shockwaves throughout the biological sciences. Over the past two years, more than a hundred biologists have signed letters protesting his reversal. Making sense of Wilson’s decision and the controversy it has spawned requires familiarity with the historical record. This entails not only examining the conditions under which kin selection theory first emerged, but also the organicist tradition against which it rebelled. In similar fashion, one must not only examine Wilson’s long career, but also those thinkers who influenced him most, especially his intellectual grandfather, William Morton Wheeler (1865–1937). Wilson belongs to a long line of organicists, biologists whose research highlighted integration and coordination, many of whom struggled over the exact same biological riddles that have long defined Wilson’s career. Drawing inspiration (and sometimes ideas) from these intellectual forebears, Wilson is confident that he has finally identified the origin of the social impulse.     

Sitting above the maze: recent model discoveries in molecular science

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has convinced the world that how important the role that computational sciences play in chemical and materials sciences. In this review, computational methods and rational molecule design, including quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics methods, have been applied to study electronic structures and the interactions in a number of important applications at molecular level. The applications which include bioactive compounds, drug candidates and photoactive molecules at Swinburne University in the past several years are discussed. The research is in close collaboration with world class experimental groups from spectroscopy, organic and medicinal synthesis laboratories and most recently to γ-ray spectroscopy as well as other theory groups in the world. Ionisation spectra of biomolecules and bioactive compounds including amino acids, DNA bases, cyclic dipeptides, drug candidates, complexes and photoactive molecules are discussed. Most recent projects such as infrared spectral studies of ferrocene, rational design of organic dyes in solar cell applications, and recent development in γ-ray spectra of positron annihilation in molecules are highlighted.     

Quantum nanomagnets: From relaxation to coherence

At the nanometer scale, a magnet is quantum. A single crystal made of a network of nanomagnets is a macroscopic quantum object (incoherent). The first object of this class which was discovered is the so-called molecular complex Mn₁₂-ac with a spin S = 10 per molecule. With vanishingly small tunneling gaps this system opened the field of slow quantum dynamics, allowing in particular the study of interplays between classical and quantum magnetism. The first part of this paper gives an overview of this new type of mesoscopic physics. An extension to the case non-interacting rare-earth ions is presented in the second part, showing that mesoscopic magnetism can reach the atomic scale. Modifications occur in the spin-bath allowing the observation of two- and four-spins entanglements of electro-nuclear states. If rare-earth ions are more diluted this system undergoes a progressive transition from the relaxation regime to the coherence regime where Rabi oscillations are observed. This leads to the rare-earth spin qubits with new possibilities in quantum computation.     

Ecology and evolutionary biology in the war and postwar years: Questions and comments

Conclusion: Scientists qua engineers Of all the scientists discussed by Mitman, Keller, and Taylor, Odum stands out most as the technocrat, the social engineer. But less obvious candidates, like Allee, also fancied themselves in this capacity: Our task as biologists and as citizens of a civilized country, is a practical engineering job. Allee had in mind the establishment of an international cooperative order based on his biological principles. He apparently did not recognize the extent to which his principles were themselves an engineering feat: he had already constructed a world in which eternal peace and order were possible.To an engineer in the traditional sense, the world is changeable, but not in all respects; there are constraints, and these constraints are taken very seriously. Scientists acting as engineers, in the traditional sense, must also pay attention to constraints. But scientists sometimes also take the option of engineering the very constraints, intellectually reconstructing the world so that it can (supposedly) be physically manipulated in the desired direction. There seems to be a lot of engineering, in the extended sense, going on in the very interesting stories that Mitman, Keller, and Taylor tell.     

At the dawn of a new revolution in life sciences

In a recently published article Sydney Brenner argued that the most relevant scientific revolution in biology at his time was the breakthrough of the role of "information" in biology.The fundamental concept that integrates this new biological "information" with matter and energy is the universal Turing machine and von Neumann's self-reproducing machines.In this article we demonstrate that in contrast to Turing/von Neumann machines living cells can really reproduce themselves.Additionally current knowledge on the roles of noncoding RNAs indicates a radical violation of the central dogma of molecular biology and opens the way to a new revolution in life sciences.     

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace The British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), well known as co‐discoverer of the “Darwinian” principle of natural selection, came from an ordinary background. Wallace left school aged 14 and never attended University. He became a land surveyor and studied, in his spare time, the works of the most famous naturalists of his age. After extensive expeditions (Amazon, 1848–1852; Southeast Asia, 1854–1862), Wallace spent the rest of his life in England as a free‐lance science writer. His contributions to systematics (he discovered/described many new species), evolutionary biology, zoogeography, anthropology and other branches of the live sciences are summarized in his 22 books and ca. 700 papers. Since Wallace became an adherent of spiritualism and mixed up supernatural phenomena with scientific facts in some of his later books, he remains a controversial figure in the history of the life sciences.     

Obituary Fumio Oosawa 1922–2019

Prof. Fumio Oosawa passed away in Nagoya on March 4, 2019, at the age of 96. As two of his former students we, like a great many scientists both in Japan and around the world, were much inspired and influenced by him. We have, at the request of the journal, penned this note to describe some of his major scientific contributions and also provide the readers of Biophysical Reviews with an idea of the remarkable personality and character traits that he displayed throughout his life. Fumio Oosawa (or Oosawa-san as he preferred to be called) was a physicist who initially entered the area of biophysics through studies in the field of condensed matter phenomena. Although a remarkable human being, he was, first and foremost, one of the leading scientists of his generation, making many original contributions that could, by any measure, be described as scientific breakthroughs. Therefore, before providing a short biography of his life in and around science, we thought it most appropriate to begin this Letter by first summarizing his major scientific contributions.     

On the ethics and practice of contemporary social theory: from crisis talk to multiattentional method

Using an approach derived from the anthropology and sociology of knowledge, this article explores the historical emergence of European social theory and its contemporary place in the human sciences. I direct ethnographic attention to a sense of crisis or impasse in social theory’s capacity to frame and to analyze the complexity of contemporary relations in the world. By reanalyzing this crisis talk as a phenomenological reaction to the growing (sub)specialization of social theory, I offer a new way of thinking about social theory in terms of specialized analytical attentions. I also suggest how we can move from crisis talk to a new ethics of theoretical complementarity, inspired by Dilthey, which I term “multiattentional method.”     

The changing world of modern cell biology

Change is always ambiguous. There is the enticing prospect of novelty and better times ahead, but at the same time the concern of losing the good of the past. It is with these sentiments that I take over as the Editor-in-Chief from Ira Mellman who for a decade has cleverly and effectively lead the JCB. During this time he directed and oversaw an extensive modernization of the journal and guided it through dramatic changes in the publishing world. Ira lead the journal with unyielding dedication and enthusiasm and we in the cell biology community must thank him profoundly for his service. It is his work, together with the invaluable contribution of the best editorial board and the most dedicated professional editorial staff in the scientific publishing business, that allows me to now take over the stewardship of the JCB with a tremendous sense of excitement and determination to continue and expand the JCB's role as the leading journal in the cell biology community and as a trendsetter in the rapidly changing world of modern cell biology.     

Sinophysis and Pseudophalacroma are distantly related to typical Dinophysoid dinoflagellates (Dinophysales, Dinophyceae)

Dinophysoid dinoflagellates are usually considered a large monophyletic group. Large subunit and small subunit (SSU) rDNA phylogenies suggest a basal position for Amphisoleniaceae (Amphisolenia,Triposolenia) with respect to two sister groups, one containing most Phalacroma species plus Oxyphysis and the other Dinophysis,Ornithocercus, Dinophysoid dinoflagellates are usually considered a large monophyletic group. Large subunit and small subunit (SSU) rDNA phylogenies suggest a basal position for Amphisoleniaceae (Amphisolenia,Triposolenia) with respect to two sister groups, one containing most Phalacroma species plus Oxyphysis and the other Dinophysis,Ornithocercus, Histioneis,Citharistes and some Phalacroma species. We provide here new SSU rDNA sequences of Pseudophalacroma (pelagic) and Sinophysis (the only benthic dinophysoid genus). Molecular phylogenies support that they are very divergent with respect to the main clade of Dinophysales. Additional molecular markers of these two key genera are needed to elucidate the evolutionary relations among the dinophysoid dinoflagellates. Histioneis,Citharistes and some Phalacroma species. We provide here new SSU rDNA sequences of Pseudophalacroma (pelagic) and Sinophysis (the only benthic dinophysoid genus). Molecular phylogenies support that they are very divergent with respect to the main clade of Dinophysales. Additional molecular markers of these two key genera are needed to elucidate the evolutionary relations among the dinophysoid dinoflagellates.     

Driving as night falls: the contribution of retinal flow and visual direction to the control of steering

We have the ability to locomote at high speeds, and we usually negotiate bends safely, even when visual information is degraded, for example, when driving at night. There are three sources of visual information that could support successful steering. An observer fixating a steering target that is eccentric to the current heading must rotate their gaze. The gaze rotation may be detected by using head and eye movement signals (extra-retinal direction: ERD) or their retinal counterpart, visual direction (VD). The gaze rotation also transforms the global retinal flow (RF) field, which may enable direct steering judgments. In this study, we manipulate VD and RF to determine their contribution toward steering a curved path in the presence of ERD. The results suggest a model that uses a weighted combination of all three information sources, but results also suggest that this weighting may change in reduced visibility, such as in low-light conditions.     

Functional modules of the brain

Building on the view of massive modularity, a number of generalized assumptions lead to an entirely new concept of functional brain modules. In contrast to the nerve centers usually considered to be active in the brain, these modules, called symbions, are non-localized, non-hierarchical, and based on subcellular molecular mechanisms rather than on neurons. They act according to local rules that may be fundamentally nonlinear, potentially leading to strong interdependencies between parallel inputs, and they interact by information, not by force. The existence of inner states, feedback loops, internal models, and information encoding provide the basis for a higher complexity than is usually assumed in neuroscience. A map of the symbion world, showing functional rather than physical localization, can be used to illustrate symbion interaction patterns. Perceptual constancy, sensory illusions, visual cognition, and eye-hand coordination are used as examples of what can be explained by using the new theory.     

A Visit With a Curandero

One author visited a Mexican-American folk healer in the Los Angeles area, not as a patient but as a fellow health professional. Information was obtained from this healer, a curandero, regarding his background, his clientele, the illnesses he treats, the therapeutic techniques he uses and his relationship with the official health care system. This information was generally consistent with statements about curanderismo that have appeared in the social sciences literature. It also provided additional insight into practices that have been alluded to in that literature but not described in detail. With few exceptions, curanderos would seem to be talented healers whose efforts often benefit their patients and whose continued popularity has important implications for physicians, especially those serving large numbers of people of Mexican descent.