The molecular cloning of new neuroactive growth factors and their receptors has greatly enhanced our understanding of important interactions among receptors and singnaling molecules. These studies have begun to illuminate some of the mechanisms that allow for specificity in neuronal signaling. Model cell systems, such as the PC‐12 pheochromocytoma cell line, express receptors for these different neurotirophic factors, leading to comparisons of signaling pathways for these factors. Upon binding their ligands, these receptors undergo phosphorylation on tyrosine residues, which directs their (...) interaction with signaling proteins containing src homology (SH2) domains, sequences that mediate associations with tyrosine‐phosphorylated proteins. These SH2 proteins translate the tyrosine kinase activity of receptors into downstream events that result in the specific cellular response. Investigations such as these have revealed that molecular specificity in signaling pathways may arise from combinatorial diversity in interactions between receptors and key regulatory proteins. (shrink)

Insulin resistance is thought to be the primary defect in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Thus, understanding the cellular mechanisms of insulin action may contribute significantly to developing new treatments for this disease. Although the effects of insulin on glucose and lipid metabolism are well documented, gaps remain in our understanding of the precise molecular mechanisms of signal transduction for the hormone. One potential clue to understanding the unique cellular effects of insulin may lie in the compartmentalization of signaling (...) molecules and metabolic enzymes. We review this evidence, and speculate on how PI-3 kinase-independent and -dependent signaling pathways both diverge from the insulin receptor and converge at discrete targets to insure the specificity of insulin action. BioEssays 23:215–222, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Richard Rorty is notorious for contending that the traditional, foundation-building and truth-seeking ambitions of systematic philosophy should be set aside in favour of a more pragmatic, conversational, hermeneutically guided project. This challenge has not only struck at the heart of philosophy but has ricocheted across other disciplines, both contesting their received self-images and opening up new avenues of inquiry in the process. Alan Malachowski provides an authoritative overview of Rorty's considerable body of work and a general assessment of his (...) impact both within philosophy and in the humanities more broadly. He begins by explaining the genesis of Rorty's central ideas, tracking their development from suggestions in his early papers through their crystallization in his groundbreaking book, "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature". Malachowski evaluates some of the common criticisms of Rorty's position and his ensuing pragmatism. The book examines the subsequent evolution of his ideas, focusing particularly on the main themes of his second major work, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. The political and cultural impact of Rorty's writings on such diverse fields as feminism, cultural and literary theory, and international relations are also considered, and the author explores why Rorty's work has generally found its warmest reception in these areas rather than among mainstream philosophers. (shrink)

There is currently no consensus from the relevant stakeholders regarding the operational and construct definitions of child assent for research. As such, the requirements for assent are often construed in different ways, institutionally disparate, and often conflated with those of parental consent. Development of a standardized operational definition of assent would thus be important to ensure that investigators, institutional review boards, and policy makers consider the assent process in the same way. To this end, we describe a Delphi study that (...) provided consensus from a panel of expert stakeholders regarding the definitions of child assent for research. Based on current guidelines, a preliminary definition of assent was generated and sent out for review to a Delphi panel including pediatric bioethicists and researchers, Institutional Review Board members, parents, and individuals with regulatory/legal expertise. For each subsequent review, the process of summarizing and revising responses was repeated until consensus was achieved. Panelists were also required to rank order elements of assent that they believed were most important in defining the underlying constructs of the assent process. In providing these rankings, panelists were asked to frame their responses in the contexts of younger and adolescents/older children in non-therapeutic and therapeutic trials. Summary rankings of the most important identified elements were then used to generate written construct definitions which were sent out for iterative reviews by the expert panel. Consensus regarding the operational definition was reached by 14/18 of the panel members. Seventeen panelists agreed with the definitions of capacity for assent, elements of disclosure for younger children, and the requirements for meaningful assent, respectively. Fifteen members agreed with the elements of disclosure for adolescents/older children. It is hoped that this study will positively inform and effect change in the way investigators, regulators, and IRBs operationalize the assent process, respect children’s developing autonomy, and in concert with parental permission, ensure the protection of children who participate in research. (shrink)

Alan R. White; I*—The Presidential Address: Shooting, Killing and Fatally Wounding, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 80, Issue 1, 1 June 1980, Pa.

This manuscript reviews the background of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as well as the ethical foundations of individual privacy. This includes a historical perspective on personal privacy, a review of the United States Constitutional privacy interpretations, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, European Union Regulations, as well as the positions of industry and advocacy groups. A brief review of the information technology ethics literature is also included. The RFID privacy concerns are three-fold: pre-sales activities, sales transaction activities, and post-sales (...) uses. A proposal to address these privacy concerns is detailed, generally based on past philosophical frameworks and specifically on the Fair Information Practices that the Federal Trade Commission has outlined for the electronic marketplace (e-commerce). It is proposed that by application of these Fair Information Practices, the major privacy issues of RFID can be addressed. (shrink)

Parents can benefit their offspring by conserving resources that the offspring stand to inherit. Thus, inheritance of resources should promote the evolution of propensities to conserve. But inheritance also has another, less obvious effect: it can reduce the fertility of the conserver’s grandchildren, thus reducing the expected number of great-grandchildren. Consequently, inheritance of resources promotes the evolution of conservation less than might be supposed.

Bioethics as politics -- Bioethics and the politics of expectations -- Engendering consent : bioethics and biobanks -- Missing the big picture : bioethics and stem cell research -- Testing times : bioethics and "do-it-yourself" genetics -- Governing uncertainty : the politics of nanoethics -- Beyond bioethics.

In this paper I examine the interconnections between two paradigms of technology, nature, and social life, and their associated environmental impacts. The dominant technocratic philosophy which now guides policy and technological power is mechanistic. It conceptualizes nature as a resource to be controlled fully for human ends and it threatens drastically to alter the integrity of the planet’s ecosystems. Incontrast, the organic, person-planetary paradigm conceptualizes intrinsic value in all beings. Deep ecology gives priority to community and ecosystem integrity and seeks (...) to guide the design and applications of technology according to principles which follow from ecological understanding. I describe this shift in paradigms and how it affects our perceptions, values, and actions. (shrink)

For humanists the perfect language was a revived Classical Latin. For scholastics it was a practical logic adapted to the needs of education. Though they have long been portrayed as arch rivals, Alan Perreiah here argues that humanists and scholastics were working in complementary ways toward some of the same goals: most significantly, the early modern search for the perfect language. The study advances research on language pedagogy in the Renaissance by clarifying the connections between truth and translation.

Abstract:The Wilderness Act characterizes wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man…" How crucial to the idea of wilderness is its location on our home planet? If an extraterrestrial community of life were discovered, it would certainly be untrammeled by man. Does it make sense to extend the idea of wilderness to encompass other planets and their potential ecosystems? Many values are associated with wilderness, supporting arguments for the need to preserve or (...) protect it. Some arguments seem readily applicable to extraterrestrial habitats, while others may be specific to Earth. I offer an overview of values attributed to wilderness, and consider the extent to which these values may or may not apply beyond the Earth. Following Rolston's claim that nature is not only of value, but a source of values, extraterrestrial wildernesses can be esteemed as instances of a cosmic evolutionary process. (shrink)

Alan R White; Needs and Wants, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 8, Issue 2, 30 May 2006, Pages 159–180, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.1974.tb004.

The truthmaker objection to presentism (the view that only what exists now exists simpliciter) is that it lacks sufficient metaphysical resources to ground truths about the past. In this paper I identify five constraints that an adequate presentist response must satisfy. In light of these constraints, I examine and reject responses by Bigelow, Keller, Crisp, and Bourne. Consideration of how these responses fail, however, points toward a proposal that works; one that posits God’s memories as truthmakers for truths about the (...) past. I conclude that presentists have, in the truthmaker objection, considerable incentive to endorse theism. (shrink)

Alan R. White; IX—Attending and Noticing, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 63, Issue 1, 1 June 1963, Pages 103–126, https://doi.org/10.1093/arist.

Alan R. White; IV—Seeing What is Not there1, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 70, Issue 1, 1 June 1970, Pages 61–74, https://doi.org/10.1093/aris.

Alan R White; Needs and Wants, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 8, Issue 2, 30 May 2006, Pages 159–180, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.1974.tb004.

Alan R. White; IV—Seeing What is Not there1, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 70, Issue 1, 1 June 1970, Pages 61–74, https://doi.org/10.1093/aris.

In 'Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature' Richard Rorty presented his provocation and influential vision of the post-philosophical culture, calling upon professional philosophers to accept that epistemology is dead, that the analytic method is a myth, and that philosophy and science are merely forms of literature.

Early in the 20th century Bateson, Doncaster and Punnett formed a cooperative collective to share research findings on the chromosome theory of heredity (CTH). They cross-bred plants and animals to correlate behaviour of chromosomes and heredity of individual traits. Doncaster was the most enthusiastic proponent of the new theory and worked for years to convince Bateson and Punnett on its relevance to their own research. The two younger biologists collaborated with Bateson, the preeminent geneticist in England. As their own reputations (...) developed, their research findings allied with the consensus on the importance of the CTH by the broader scientific community. After Doncaster’s tragic death in 1920, major objections to the theory had been resolved; Bateson and Punnett then utilized the CTH to construct chromosome maps detailing locations of specific genes on particular chromosomes in several different species. The marriage of heredity and cytology enhanced confidence that the theory was an accurate mechanism to explain inheritance in both plants and animals. (shrink)