Quinean social skills: empirical evidence from eye-gaze against information encapsulation

Since social skills are highly significant to the evolutionary success of humans, we should expect these skills to be efficient and reliable. For many Evolutionary Psychologists efficiency entails encapsulation: the only way to get an efficient system is via information encapsulation. But encapsulation reduces reliability in opaque epistemic domains. And the social domain is darkly opaque: people lie and cheat, and deliberately hide their intentions and deceptions. Modest modularity [Currie and Sterelny (2000) Philos Q 50:145–160] attempts to combine efficiency and reliability. Reliability is obtained by placing social skills in un-encapsulated central cognition; efficiency by having the social system sensitive to encapsulated socially tagged cues. In this paper, I argue that this approach fails. I focus on eye-gaze as a plausible example of a socially significant encapsulated cue. I demonstrate contra modest modularity that eye-gaze is subject to influence from central cognition.

Cultural values on CSR patterns and evolution: A study from the biplot representation

Based on institutional and stakeholder theory, this study aims to observe the influence the cultural system has on the degree of responsibility of business behaviour and examines how normative isomorphism influences the Corporate Social Responsibility practices at the country level. We use the Hofstede model because its dimension group highlights the cultural similarities and differences between countries, and we measure CSR along five indicators referring to environmental and social dimensions. This study contributes to the literature by adopting a multi-region approach considering a sample of 6600 observations of 600 publicly-listed companies headquartered in 18 countries in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia, during the period 2004–2014. Given the multidimensional character of the data, we use the exploratory statistical techniques X-STATIS and HJ-biplot, since this allows us to approximate a large group of variables in a low-dimensional space, providing us with a useful visualisation of the structure of the data of the sample relative to the variables. Our main conclusion is that cultural dimensions exert important pressures on firms and their commitment, so, companies located in collectivist societies and, even more, in feminist ones, are characterised by the pursuit of the common good and place greater emphasis on social and environmental issues, thereby showing best CSR practices. Overall, the data does point to more activity in Northern than in Southern Europe, and show that companies respond to what is important in their own countries; for example, the Nordic countries give priority to social policies, while Japanese companies are more committed to the environment. Finally, our results evidence that companies worldwide adopt similar patterns of CSR practices, but their degree of development is strongly determined by the normative institutional characteristics.     

Correction to: Moving Beyond Global Warming Potentials to Quantify the Climatic Role of Ecosystems

Ecosystems - In our 2015 paper, we dropped the e(− dt/τ) term from Equations (1) and (2) when an ecosystem removed CH4 or N2O from the atmosphere, reasoning that greenhouse gases...     

Moving targets: collective decisions and flexible choices in house-hunting ants

Many decisions involve a trade-off between commitment and flexibility. We show here that the collective decisions ants make over new nest sites are sometimes sufficiently flexible that the ants can change targets even after an emigration has begun. Our findings suggest that, in this context, the ants’ procedures are such that they can sometimes avoid ‘negative information cascades’ which might lock them into a poor choice. The ants are more responsive to belated good news of a higher quality nest than they are when the nest they had initially chosen degraded to become worse than an alternative. Our study confirms, in a new way, that ant colonies can be very powerful “search engines”.     

Selection and modeling sustainable urbanization indicators: A responsibility-based method

The responsibility borne by governmental departments measured by a set of indicators is a key factor affecting the performance of urban sustainability. Thus, responsibility analysis can guide the selection of sustainability indicators. In line with the principle of Management by Objective (MBO), this paper aims to introduce a responsibility-based method, named Strategic goal-Responsibility department-Response (SRR), for selecting sustainable urbanization indicators. By applying this method, indicators are selected from the perspective of concerned departments’ responsibility. In developing the SRR model, the tool of Responsibility Assignment Matrix is used to identify the concerned departments who assume responsibilities in the process of implementing sustainable urbanization. The content analysis is used to analyze the work scope and definitions of the concerned departments and sustainable urbanization indicators that can measure the responsibility performance of the concerned departments are filtered out. A case study of Jinan city in China is used to demonstrate the procedures of using the proposed method. Based on the strategic goals of Jinan city, 20 responsibility departments and 152 initial indicators are identified by using the SRR framework. The case study reveals that the method is a feasible and effective tool in assisting policy makers to select sustainable urbanization indicators.     

Administrative gatekeeping - a third way between unrestricted patient advocacy and bedside rationing

The inevitable need for rationing of healthcare has apparently presented the medical profession with the dilemma of choosing the lesser of two evils. Physicians appear to be obliged to adopt either an implausible version of traditional professional ethics or an equally problematic ethics of bedside rationing. The former requires unrestricted advocacy of patients but prompts distrust, moral hazard and unfairness. The latter commits physicians to rationing at the bedside; but it is bound to introduce unfair inequalities among patients and lack of political accountability towards citizens. In this paper I shall argue that this dilemma is false, since a third intermediate alternative exists. This alternative, which I term 'administrative gatekeeping', makes it possible for physicians to be involved in rationing while at the same time being genuine advocates of their patients. According to this ideal, physicians are required to follow fair rules of rationing adopted at higher organizational levels within healthcare systems. At the same time, however, they are prohibited from including considerations of cost in their clinical decisions.     

Dopamine D4 Receptors: Beyond Schizophrenia

Dopamine D₄ receptors mediate a wide range of neuronal signal transduction cascades. Malfunctions of these mechanisms may contribute to the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders, and their modification underlies the actions of many psychotropic drugs. Postmortem neuropathological and genetic studies provide inconclusive associations between D₄ receptors and schizophrenia. Clinical trials of partially selective lead D₄ antagonists have proved them to be ineffective against psychotic symptoms in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, associations are emerging between D₄ receptors and other neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as specific personality traits such as novelty seeking. Preclinical studies indicate that D₄ receptors play a pivotal role in the cellular mechanisms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and working memory. Accordingly, D₄ receptors have broader implications for human illnesses than has been suggested by early focus on psychotic illness as a clinical target, and selective D₄ agents may yield clinically useful drugs for several neuropsychiatric disorders that require improved treatments.     

Neoliberal restructuring and multicultural legacies: the experiences of a mid-level actor in recognizing difference

In this article, I address the impact of neoliberalism and the attendant techniques of financialization on multiculturalism in Canada through ethnographic research at a non-profit, multicultural heritage institution. I consider how the workers at this non-profit maintained their solidaristic, pre-neoliberal conception of multiculturalism even as they experimented with a sociality dominated by market exchange. Even as worker subjectivity was transformed at the institution by dramatic budget cuts and the necessity for project-based contracts, ‘volunteerism’, entrepreneurialism, and flexibility, neoliberal discourse also opened new imaginative possibilities for the MHSO. Through extensive community networks the organization has been able to survive, if precariously, without dramatic changes to its pre-neoliberal programming which asserts a social democratic, pluralist ethos. Therefore, I argue in this article that we need to attend to the limits of neoliberal effects on the situated and historically distinctive way multiculturalism has been put into practice around the world.     

BRCA1: Beyond double-strand break repair

Since its discovery, the BRCA1 tumor suppressor has been shown to play a role in multiple DNA damage response pathways. Here, we will review the involvement of BRCA1 in base-excision DNA repair and highlight its clinical implications.     

Risky business: Discourses of risk and (ir)responsibility in globalizing markets

This paper addresses aspects of 'market culture' as it is expressed in media discourse and among financial traders and corporate managers. Particular focus is placed on their perspectives on risk and responsibility. It is suggested that the ideas and actions of financial traders and corporate leaders contribute in significant ways to the structuring of market transactions across the world. They contribute to the diffusion of perspectives on markets and market actors, influence our understandings of the scope of individual action in market transactions, and play a vital role in the development and organization of contemporary markets. The paper argues that perceptions of risk and responsibility are culturally embedded in the particular contexts in which these actors operate; that they are tightly interwoven as aspects of developing global markets; and presented as forces of nature in discourses that produce not only 'truths' but also power. It is suggested that the fetishization of the market contributes to the evasion of responsibility among financial traders, whereas it presents an opportunity for corporations to position themselves as socially responsible actors. Central to the understanding of the differing conceptualizations of risk and responsibility are perceptions of agency of different actors in financial markets.     

Responsibilities in elderly care: Mr Powell's narrative of duty and relations

In Western countries a considerable number of older people move to a residential home when their health declines. Institutionalization often results in increased dependence, inactivity and loss of identity or self-worth (dignity). This raises the moral question as to how older, institutionalized people can remain autonomous as far as continuing to live in line with their own values is concerned. Following Walker's meta-ethical framework on the assignment of responsibilities, we suggest that instead of directing all older people towards more autonomy in terms of independence, professional caregivers should listen to the life narrative of older people and attempt to find out how their personal identity, relations and values in life can be continued in the new setting. If mutual normative expectations between caregivers and older people are not carefully negotiated, it creates tension. This tension is illustrated by the narrative of Mr Powell, a retired successful public servant now living in a residential home. The narrative describes his current life, his need for help, his independent frame of mind, and his encounters with institutional and professional policies. Mr Powell sees himself as a man who has always cared for himself and others, and who still feels that he has to fulfil certain duties in life. Mr Powell's story shows that he is not always understood well by caregivers who respond from a one-sided view of autonomy as independence. This leads to misunderstanding and an underestimation of his need to be noticed and involved in the residential community.     

Importins and Beyond: Non-Conventional Nuclear Transport Mechanisms

The movement of proteins between the cytoplasm and the nucleus conventionally involves the recognition of nuclear targeting signals by members of the importin (Imp) superfamily of nuclear transporters, followed by translocation through the nuclear envelope-embedded nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). It is becoming increasingly apparent, however, that distinct alternative pathways for nuclear transport exist and are relatively abundant. This review examines several of these novel pathways, including facilitation of Imp-dependent transport by microtubule motors, and Imp-independent pathways involving either other transport molecules such as the calcium-binding protein calmodulin or through direct binding to the components of the NPC. The existence of these pathways and the fact that many proteins appear to possess separate Imp-dependent and -independent nuclear import mechanisms ensure that the cell can function under conditions in which Imp-dependent transport is inhibited and/or modulate the efficiency of Imp-dependent transport itself, according to the need.     

Beyond the Movie Screen: An Antarctic Adventure

Movies depicting science-related issues often capture the attention of today's youth. As an instructional tool, movies can take us beyond the drama and action and thrilling scenes. In this article we share our experiences of using the movie Eight Below as a centerpiece for developing high school students’ understanding of basic chemistry concepts. In addition to the science concepts developed using the context of the movie, we engaged students in thinking about the ethical dilemmas embedded in the movie.     

Beyond Coprinisphaera: fossil nests of dung beetles

Forty‐two remains of fossil nests of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), which were recorded in four formations of the Cenozoic of South America, are described herein for the first time. Most of them are represented by nesting chambers containing a fossil brood ball (Coprinisphaera). However, in the most remarkable cases, parts of the burrows constructed by the parents and/or the vertical emergence burrows constructed by the offspring are preserved too. The preservation of the dung beetle nests is very unusual but more recurrent in younger formations probably because of the short‐term action of the diagenetic processes. Considering that the construction of brood balls always involves the construction of nests, the ichnotaxonomical proposal is that the remains of fossil nests should be considered as ‘structures associated with Coprinisphaera’ and added to the diagnosis to avoid the proliferation of names. The study of the fossil nests provides new palaeoetological inferences for dung beetles, such as the Nesting Pattern of the trace makers of Coprinisphaera tonnii and Coprinisphaera akatanka, and how phylogenetically related were they with the extant necrophagous species of the genera Coprophanaeus and Canthon, respectively. Additionally, the fossil evidence suggests that simple nests of dung beetles predate compound nests.     

Risk Assessment Modeling: Beyond Exposure and Effects

Problem formulation, risk analysis, and risk characterization are, respectively, the design, estimation, and interpretation stages of risk assessment. Models traditionally have been used to estimate exposure and effects; now opportunities are growing to use them to design and interpret risk assessments as well. This could raise the level of rigor, reproducibility, and transparency in the risk assessment process, and improve the way information and expertise gets integrated to advise risk managers. The importance of good design and interpretation to the success of risk assessment and risk management, and the role of modeling in that success, is becoming increasingly apparent, but to date models are used only to a fraction of their potential. We provide two examples of the use of models to design and interpret risk assessments. The first looks at the use of models to better characterize risks by modeling uncertainties and exposure from offsite sources, and the second to forecast future risks of a new technology. Following the examples, we discuss some important obstacles to translating new modeling opportunities into practice. These include practical limits on the abilities of organizations to assimilate new tools and methods, and conceptual limits in the way people think about models.     

Beyond nutrients: food-derived microRNAs provide cross-kingdom regulation

Food turns out to be not only the nutrient supplier for our body but also a carrier of regulatory information. Interestingly, a recent study made the discovery that some plant/food-derived microRNAs (miRNAs) accumulate in the serum of humans or plant-feeding animals, and regulate mammalian gene expression in a sequence-specific manner. The authors provided striking evidence that miRNAs could function as active signaling molecules to transport information across distinct species or even kingdoms. Although the mechanism of how miRNAs are shuttled between different organisms is still not well characterized, initial results point to the involvement of microvesicles and specific RNA-transporter-like proteins. These findings raise both speculation about the potential impact that plants may have on animal physiology at the molecular level, and an appealing possibility that food-derived miRNAs may offer us another means to deliver necessary nutrients or therapeutics to our bodies.