The centromere is a specialized chromosomal structure that dictates kinetochore assembly and, thus, is essential for accurate chromosome segregation. Centromere identity is determined epigenetically by the presence of a centromere‐specific histone H3 variant, CENP‐A, that replaces canonical H3 in centromeric chromatin. Here, we discuss recent work by Roulland et al. that identifies structural elements of the nucleosome as essential determinants of centromere function. In particular, CENP‐A nucleosomes have flexible DNA ends due to the short αN helix of CENP‐A. The higher (...) flexibility of the DNA ends of centromeric nucleosomes impairs binding of linker histones H1, while it facilitates binding of other essential centromeric proteins, such as CENP‐C, and is required for mitotic fidelity. This work extends previous observations indicating that the differential structural properties of CENP‐A nucleosomes are on the basis of its contribution to centromere identity and function. Here, we discuss the implications of this work and the questions arising from it. (shrink)

Aims: Attentional bias, alcohol craving, and anxiety have important implications in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder. The current study aims to test the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality Cue-Exposure Therapy to reduce levels of alcohol craving and anxiety and prompt changes in AB toward alcohol content.Method: A 49-year-old male participated in this study, diagnosed with severe AUD, who also used tobacco and illicit substances on an occasional basis and who made several failed attempts to cease substance misuse. (...) The protocol consisted of six VR-CET booster sessions and two assessment sessions over the course of 5 weeks. The VR-CET program consisted of booster therapy sessions based on virtual reality exposure to preferred alcohol-related cues and contexts. The initial and final assessment sessions were focused on exploring AB, alcohol craving, and anxiety using paper-and-pencil instruments and the eye-tracking and VR technologies at different time points.Results: Pre and post assessment sessions indicated falls on the scores of all instruments assessing alcohol craving, anxiety, and AB.Conclusions: This case report, part of a larger project, demonstrates the effectiveness of the VR-CET booster sessions in AUD. In the post-treatment measurements, a variety of instruments showed a change in the AB pattern and an improvement in craving and anxiety responses. As a result of the systematic desensitization, virtual exposure gradually reduced the responses to significant alcohol-related cues and contexts. The implications for AB, anxiety and craving are discussed. (shrink)

By Olga Campos, Mª Ángeles Arráez, Miguel Moreno, Francisco Lara, Pedro Francés, and Javier Rodríguez Alcázar.

This paper develops a largely neglected parallel between prudence and population ethics. Prudence is generally understood to be concerned with the balancing of well-being over time. How, precisely, well-being ought to be balanced over time, however, is a fervently debated question. I argue that developing a standard guiding such evaluations is exceedingly challenging. This is due to an often overlooked fact about prudence, namely that it shares a structural similarity with population ethics: In both contexts, we assess the comparative value (...) of populations of personstages/people, which may vary in number and level of well-being. Based on this analogy, I show that the development of an adequate theory of prudence runs into very similar impossibility results as obtain in population ethics. In particular, I prove that Arrhenius’ fifth impossibility theorem can be applied to prudence. I develop and compare four possible answers to this challenge. First, I discuss the possibility of accepting the very repugnant conclusion intrapersonally. Second, I present and further develop Donald Bruckner’s Minimax Regret approach, which gives up Transitivity. Third, I apply Jacob Nebel’s Lexical Threshold View to prudence and critically evaluate it. Lastly, I introduce what I call the Negative Lexicality View, which is based on Lexical Threshold View but overcomes some of its problems. (shrink)

“Love hurts”—as the saying goes—and a certain amount of pain and difficulty in intimate relationships is unavoidable. Sometimes it may even be beneficial, since adversity can lead to personal growth, self-discovery, and a range of other components of a life well-lived. But other times, love can be downright dangerous. It may bind a spouse to her domestic abuser, draw an unscrupulous adult toward sexual involvement with a child, put someone under the insidious spell of a cult leader, and even inspire (...) jealousy-fueled homicide. How might these perilous devotions be diminished? The ancients thought that treatments such as phlebotomy, exercise, or bloodletting could “cure” an individual of love. But modern neuroscience and emerging developments in psychopharmacology open up a range of possible interventions that might actually work. These developments raise profound moral questions about the potential uses—and misuses—of such anti-love biotechnology. In this article, we describe a number of prospective love-diminishing interventions, and offer a preliminary ethical framework for dealing with them responsibly should they arise. (shrink)

In this short contribution we explore the historical roots of recent synthetic approaches in biology and try to assess their real potential, as well as identify future hurdles or the reasons behind some of the main difficulties they currently face. We suggest that part of these difficulties might not be just the result of our present lack of adequate technical skills or understanding, but could spring directly from the nature of the biological phenomenon itself. In particular, if life is conceived (...) as autonomy in open-ended evolution, which would help to explain the highly complex and dynamic organization of the simplest known organisms (i.e., genetically-instructed cellular metabolisms), external synthetic implementations of such systems, or interventions on them, are bound to interfere with some of their characteristic transformation processes, both at the ontogenetic and phylogenetic scales. In any case, this will prove very revealing and productive, technologically and scientifically speaking, since the knowledge gathered from those implementations/interventions will be extremely valuable in establishing our capacities and limitations to fully comprehend, utilize, and expand the living domain as we know it today. (shrink)

Spelling errors are ubiquitous in all writing systems. Most studies exploring spelling errors focused on the phonological plausibility of errors. However, unlike typical pseudohomophones, spelling errors occur in naturally produced written language. We investigated the time course of recognition of the most frequent orthographic errors in Russian and the effect of word frequency on this process. During event-related potentials recording, 26 native Russian speakers silently read high-frequency correctly spelled words, low-frequency correctly spelled words, high-frequency words with errors, and low-frequency words (...) with errors. The amplitude of P200 was more positive for correctly spelled words than for misspelled words and did not depend on the frequency of the words. In addition, in the 350–500-ms time window, we found a more negative response for misspelled words than for correctly spelled words in parietal–temporal-occipital regions regardless of word frequency. Considering our results in the context of a dual-route model, we concluded that recognizing misspelled high-frequency and low-frequency words involves common orthographic and phonological processes associated with P200 and N400 components such as whole word orthography processing and activation of phonological representations correspondingly. However, at the 500–700 ms stage, error recognition depends on the word frequency. One possible explanation for these differences could be that at the 500–700 ms stage recognition of high-frequency misspelled and correctly spelled words shifts from phonological to orthographic processes, while low-frequency misspelled words are accompanied by more prolonged phonological activation. We believe these processes may be associated with different ERP components P300 and N400, reflecting a temporal overlap between categorization processes based on orthographic properties for high-frequency words and phonological processes for low-frequency words. Therefore, our results complement existing reading models and demonstrate that the neuronal underpinnings of spelling error recognition during reading may depend on word frequency. (shrink)

COVID-19 confinement has supposed a challenge to the whole wide world, especially in athletes that have frustrated their expectations about training programs and competitions. Specifically, competition cyclists during confinement had lot of difficulties to train due to the need to train outside their homes. However, the increase of online training sessions, or virtual training tools could help to overcome training difficulties due to confinement although there are not studies that analyse the effects of using these types of tools in cyclists. (...) This study aims to test how the use of online training tools in competition cyclists during confinement is related to training frequency and duration, and emotions. 329 cyclists filled an online questionnaire about feelings during confinement and the use of online training tools, before and during confinement. Results showed that the use of online training tools was associated with higher frequency and duration of trainings. Moreover, those who used these tools felt more positively about their future and preparation to compete, feeling more energy than those who did not used online tools. In addition, cyclists that started using these online tools (including virtual roller training) during confinement increased the frequency of training. In conclusion the use of online training tools for cycling could be appropriate to maintain training levels and energy and positive feelings about their future. (shrink)

Hastings Center Report, Volume 51, Issue 5, Page 12-17, September‐October 2021.

Este estudio tiene como objetivo identificar la tipología y los patrones de los mensajes desinformativos relacionados con la salud y la nutrición que se difundieron durante la primera etapa de la pandemia COVID-19 (marzo-noviembre de 2020). Para ello, se realizó un estudio cuantitativo exploratorio con dos tipos de datos. Los primeros provienen del estudio de 95 documentos (artículos científicos) hallados en la base de datos SCOPUS a través de búsquedas booleanas con los términos desinformación, engaño, salud y nutrición. A estos (...) documentos se les aplicó un formulario de registro, indicando los siguientes ítems: a) el tema del artículo (salud o nutrición); b) el tipo de mensaje erróneo (desinformación o engaño); c) el país en el que se realizó el estudio; d) el tipo de participantes (público general, jóvenes, ancianos, profesionales de la salud, estudiantes universitarios); y e) el tipo de canal de información estudiado (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, periódicos impresos, periódicos digitales, plataformas web, televisión, entre otros). Por otro lado, se seleccionaron 95 ingredientes o alimentos que fueron diseminados vía WhatsApp en diferentes bulos en español durante el primer mes de confinamiento (marzo-abril de 2020). Se aplicó un formulario para evaluar el contenido de los engaños, identificando: a) el tipo de sustancia o alimento (fruta, verdura, legumbre, nuez, hierba, entre otros); y b) las fuentes de información a las que se refirió el engaño (autoridades sanitarias, público general, organismos médicos, entre otros). Finalmente, los resultados de ambos estudios cuantitativos concluyeron que el patrón internacional de difusión de bulos fue principalmente sobre la salud en general, y que la desinformación sobre nutrición fue minoritaria, y en el 91% de los casos estuvo relacionada con la ingesta de frutas y verduras, afirmando que podrían prevenir o curar la COVID-19, sin ninguna evidencia científica. (shrink)

La argumentación de Frege contra la definibilidad de la verdad pretende mostrar que una definición de verdad es circular o nos involucra en un regreso al infinito. En la obra de Frege cabe distinguir dos nociones de verdad: la verdad expresada mediante el termine “verdadero” y la verdad expresada mediante la aserción. La argumentación de Frege no muestra que el términe “verdadero” sea indefinible, pero, si se acepta la concepción de Frege acerca de la aserción, de su argumentación, adecuadamente reformulada, (...) cabe concluir la indefinibilidad de la verdad en su segunda acepción.Frege’s argumentation against the definability of truth aims to show that a definition of truth is circular or involves us in an infinite regress. In Frege’s work two notions of truth can be distinguished: truth expressed by the word “true” and truth conveyed by the assertion. Frege’s argumentation does not show that the word “true” is undefinable, but, if Frege’s view on assertion is accepted, then from his argumentation, suitably reformulated, the undefinability of truth in the second sense can be concluded. (shrink)

El siguiente artículo se propone la aproximación, desde la filosofía, a uno de los problemas contemporáneos más relevantes de la violencia política: el urbicidio, concepto que señala la destrucción de las ciudades. El análisis desarrollado deconstruye conceptualmente las implicaciones que tienen para los tiempos de globalización bélica y armamentos tecnológicos una serie de prácticas estructuradas, consensuadas y abiertamente aceptadas que, bajo los neologismos de renovación, modernidad y progreso aniquila las formas de habitar de una comunidad históricamente articulada, en la íntima (...) relación de los habitantes con una ciudad determinada. Este trabajo responde a la siguiente pregunta: ¿qué se acaba o qué se pierde cuando se destruye una ciudad? Esto es lo que el urbicidio nos permite comprender desde el enfoque filosófico en acercamientos categoriales como son el espacio, el cuerpo y el habitar, e irradia hacia temas de comprensión ontológica, cultural, política, social y ética. (shrink)

What is the relationship between space and time in the human mind? Studies in adults show an asymmetric relationship between mental representations of these basic dimensions of experience: Representations of time depend on space more than representations of space depend on time. Here we investigated the relationship between space and time in the developing mind. Native Greek‐speaking children watched movies of two animals traveling along parallel paths for different distances or durations and judged the spatial and temporal aspects of these (...) events (e.g., Which animal went for a longer distance, or a longer time?). Results showed a reliable cross‐dimensional asymmetry. For the same stimuli, spatial information influenced temporal judgments more than temporal information influenced spatial judgments. This pattern was robust to variations in the age of the participants and the type of linguistic framing used to elicit responses. This finding demonstrates a continuity between space‐time representations in children and adults, and informs theories of analog magnitude representation. (shrink)

El presente trabajo investigativo hace referencia al papel central que ejercen las mujeres en la sociedad; y en particular, se abordará a la mujer candidata. En este contexto, hay que señalar que el Ecuador como cualquier otro país tiene su propia forma de gobernar, derivada de su historia política, económica y cultural. Este trabajo principalmente hace una prospección bibliográfica que da cuenta de las tendencias, fortalezas y desafíos que enfrentan las mujeres candidatas; y, el papel del dinero como elemento clave (...) de la política y las elecciones. La lectura de este trabajo se vuelve enriquecedora para quien quiera acercarse al estudio de la cultura política y participativa de las mujeres, lo cual permitirá a su vez, que este artículo esté mucho más cercano a la realidad ecuatoriana. (shrink)

En reseña de: Puy Muñoz, Francisco (coord.), La universidad humanista en un mundo globalizado, Editorial Reus, Madrid, 2017, 206 pp.

We are constantly making choices about how to invest our time and resources. From a moral perspective, we must ask which moral concerns are most deserving of our attention. Longtermism, as e.g. defined by Greaves and MacAskill, holds that our moral focus should be on the long-term future, and that current and medium-term moral problems are comparatively insignificant. This theory is centrally based on the assumption that the moral importance of individuals can be aggregated. Since the number of individuals of (...) future generations far exceeds the number of current individuals and those closer in time, future generations are to bemorally prioritised, according to longtermism. This paper explores the implications of rejecting the premise of moral aggregation of individuals and adopting a strongly non-aggregationist position instead. It is argued that, according to strong non-aggregationism, the magnitude of the probability with which our intervention actually make a difference, as well as whether we look at the available interventions from an ex ante or ex post perspective, are relevant factors in their moral assessment. Ultimately, the conclusion is reached that strong non-aggregationism does likely not support strongly longtermist conclusions. (shrink)

Modern science is so much specialised that it seems utopic to try to follow it all at once. This new book is aimed at crossing the gap between specialists and a common understanding of 'modern science'. It would seem desirable that all educated people would know something from the humanities, literature, art but also the newest developments of natural sciences. One aim of this book is to point out the main messages of certain scientific fields, and what is really new (...) and beyond the average educational level, in order to broaden our horizons. Therefore, at the end of the chapters each scientific field possible future contributions and and ethical concerns, if any, are elaborated. (shrink)

A partir del análisis de la relación de Merleau-Ponty con la psicología de la forma, se intenta dar una lectura de su fenomenología como una lectura ontológica de la forma. De este modo, Merleau-Ponty no solo puede pensar una alternativa a la fenomenología de Husserl, sino que le permite elaborar su propia idea de Ser y dar una nueva interpretación de la diferencia ontológica de Heidegger. Desde una descripción fenomenológica de la experiencia perceptiva, a partir de las nociones de comportamiento, (...) forma y estructura, se mostrará enseguida el sentido de ser que moviliza una filosofía de la forma que implicará proyectar un pensamiento de una pertenencia radical de la fenomenalidad a la existencia, y además renovar el sentido de una fenomenología genética que considera toda conciencia trascendental en el marco de una facticidad originaria.On the basis of the relationship Merleau- Ponty establishes with Gestalt psychology, I seek to provide an interpretation his phenomenology as an ontological reading of the notion of form. Therefore, I claim that Merleau-Ponty is able, not only to develop an alternative to Husserl’s phenomenology, but also to elaborate his own idea of Being; in addition, he can offer a new understanding of the Heidegger's ontological difference. From a phenomenological description of perceptive experience, and starting with the notions of behavior, form and structure, I will then show the sense of being mobilized by a philosophy of form. This sense of being implies a projection of a thinking of phenomenality's radical belonging to the existence and, also, renewal of a genetic phenomenology that considers the whole of transcendental consciousness within the framework of an originary facticity. (shrink)

This article offers an alternative approach to paradigms that cast culture solely as a nurturing influence on children's language development. It proposes a dimensional model of Child-Directed Communication to delineate ways in which a community's habitus may impede the communicative potential of children with neuro-developmental conditions such as severe autism. It argues that certain features of Euro-American CDC are illadapted for autistic children. Due to inertia, caregivers often find themselves unable to transcend the limitations of CDC habitus. Yet, occasionally, a (...) transformation in CDC emerges that more effectively engages children with impairments. The article analyzes one such transformation forged in the niche of a unique mother–son relationship in India and then introduced in the USA. (shrink)

The purpose of the study is to determine the personal results of students with disabilities and to identify the necessary conditions for effective work with this category of children in distance learning. The analysis of the results revealed the need for the use of subject-oriented technology in the educational process, which contributes to the formation of the subjective position of students, allowing for the individualization of the educational process, maximally compensating for developmental deficits caused by diseases. As a result, the (...) necessity of organizing purposeful career guidance work with disabled children and educational work with parents was revealed. (shrink)

Firstly we consider the new results about enzymatic capabilities in the RNA. In this framework we analyse the sequence-folding duality as a precursor of the genotype/phenotype duality. We discuss then which are the evolutive potentialities and limitations for a system with the absence and the presence of a nucleic acid to proteins translator code. We study the arise of the code in the living systems as a form of deep interlooking between the logic of the machinery and its hardware, discussing (...) some problems that abstract modelization of this process implies. Finaly we propose to redefine the informational vocabulary usually employed in Molecular Biology. (shrink)

Numerosos cambios se suceden a nivel mundial. El ocio, como elemento social y cultural, no permanece ajeno a tal evolución y, a su vez, contribuye desde el punto de vista personal, social y económico, a la configuración de determinados hábitos, estilos de vida, formas diferentes de entender el descanso y desarrollo recreativo de nuevas actividades. En este artículo se plantea el uso del ocio, tiempo libre y voluntariado, desde el colectivo de las personas mayores, destacando la importancia de su participación (...) a través de distintas tareas. Esto supone una importante inversión de tiempo, conocimientos y apoyo afectivo, que no siempre es reconocido ni valorado por el resto de la sociedad. Concluimos destacando cómo la acción educativa a través de programas de ocio ha modificado su concepción y se define a través de parámetros que hacen referencia a la autonomía, desarrollo, relación, participación y creatividad, también en las personas de más edad. (shrink)

Argues that although the phenomenon of negative recency in secondary memory is usually attributed to the reduced amount of rehearsal associated with recency items, this phenomenon can be explained by the adoption of a different type of processing for recency items. An experiment with 122 undergraduates is reported in which the recall of recency items was reduced in an immediate test, but increased in a subsequent test, under conditions in which the recency items could not be identified as such during (...) their presentation. Results support the conclusion that the mode of processing items for an immediate free-recall test is normally modified for recency items. ((c) 1997 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved). (shrink)

There are the brought results of main organization problems of accounting and reporting system of small business in Ukraine as important basis of ensuring competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy in the conditions of current world financial and economic crisis. The simplified system of taxation, accounting and reporting of small business is a necessary state support and regulation tool. The article has analyses of the characteristics and disadvantages of different taxation groups of small businesses. It was found that current approach applied (...) in Ukraine using to construct the simplified system of taxation, accounting and reporting is significantly different from the approaches used in the world. It was found that current model of simplified taxation, accounting and reporting using in Ukraine is characterized with only fiscal direction while ignoring the needs of small businesses in respect of the convenient and efficient accounting. This leads to the fact that a lot of small business in Ukraine focused on addressing poverty reduction, instead of innovation development. Author paid a particular attention to accounting policies improvement of the simplified system of taxation, accounting and reporting. Author suggesting the structure of the accounting policies order adapted to the small businesses needs that use the simplified system of taxation, accounting and reporting. (shrink)

El artículo presenta el análisis de las implicaciones de evaluar la comprensión de lectura y la redacción en pruebas de ingreso a la educación superior, como una consideración necesaria para el desarrollo de una política de competencia comunicativa. Se describe el diseño de un instrumento, partiendo de la concepción sociosemiótica de la lengua, del enfoque metodológico de la comprensión por niveles intra, inter y extratextual, ligado a procesos cognitivos, y la escritura como tecnología. Se incluye, además, un concepto de evaluación (...) enmarcado en el desarrollo de competencia, es decir, los resultados de la prueba se utilizan, por fuera de concepciones deterministas excluyentes, para mostrar un estado de la competencia y las acciones posibles de mejoramiento de la misma. La competencia comunicativa se demuestra como saber transversal, inter y transdisciplinario. (shrink)