Shors & Matzel propose that hippocampal LTP increases the effective salience of discrete external stimuli and thereby facilitates the induction of memories at distant places. In line with this suggestion, a neural network model of associative learning and hippocampal function assumes that LTP increases hippocampal error signals to the cortex, thereby facilitating stimulus configuration in association cortex. Computer simulations show that under these assumptions the model correctly describes the effect of LTP induction and blockade in classical discriminations and place learning.

The orthodox way of Mass Communication and Journalism education is to letstudents undergo three years of lecture and have their internship on the fourth orlast year of their college life. The process is effective, but there is a faster and a moreeffective way to learn news writing. The phenomenological Approach to writing newswould allow students to learn the rudiments of writing news article through thereverse process of immersion to the field and later expound the phenomena thatthey went through during their (...) exposure in the context of journalistic discipline. The Phenomenological Approach to writing news article is the fastest and mosteffective way to teach students write news article because they would be exposedto the phenomena of identifying the topic to write about, interviewing of sources,weeding out of non-essential details and putting together the information into onecoherent article. Expounding the phenomena that the students went through allowsthe students to absorb journalistic values easily by relating their experience to thetheories of good journalism during the workshop. Keywords: Mass Communication, newswriting, phenomenological approach, journalism,news-writing workshop, news writing internship, descriptive-qualitative design,Philippines. (shrink)

The prospect of replication of human beings through genetic manipulation has engendered one of the most controversial debates about reproduction in our society. Ideology is clearly influencing the direction of research and legislation on human cloning, which may present one of the greatest existential challenges to the meaning of creation. In this article, I argue that, in view of the possibility that human cloning and other emerging technologies could enhance physical and cognitive abilities, there is a need for a different (...) way of thinking about life, new technologies and creation. New scientific discoveries require a shift in the way psychology takes responsibility to help individuals and society. Today, psychology needs to follow the progress that humans are taking toward a transhuman stage of development as a transition to a later posthuman stage. (shrink)

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats genome editing has already reinvented the direction of genetic and stem cell research. For more complex diseases it allows scientists to simultaneously create multiple genetic changes to a single cell. Technologies for correcting multiple mutations in an in vivo system are already in development. On the surface, the advent and use of gene editing technologies is a powerful tool to reduce human suffering by eradicating complex disease that has a genetic etiology. Gene drives are (...) CRISPR mediated alterations to genes that allow them to be passed on to subsequent populations at rates that approach one hundred per cent transmission. Therefore, from an anticipatory biomedical ethics perspective, it is possible to conceive gene drive being used with CRISPR to permanently ameliorate aberrant genes from wild-type populations containing mutations. However, there are also a number of possible side effects that could develop as the result of combining gene editing and gene drive technologies in an effort to eradicate complex diseases. In this paper, we critically analyse the hypothesis that the combination of CRISPR and gene drive will have a deleterious effect on human populations from an ethical perspective by developing an anticipatory ethical analysis of the implications for the use of CRISPR together with gene drive in humans. (shrink)

A topological duality is presented for a wide class of lattice-ordered structures including lattice-ordered groups. In this new approach, which simplifies considerably previous results of the author, the dual space is obtained by endowing the Priestley space of the underlying lattice with two binary functions, linked by set-theoretical complement and acting as symmetrical partners. In the particular case of l-groups, one of these functions is the usual product of sets and the axiomatization of the dual space is given by very (...) simple first-order sentences, saying essentially that both functions are associative and that the space is a residuated semigroup with respect to each of them. (shrink)

A major inspiration for the leaders of both the American Revolution and the French Revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau continues to be a widely read and referenced philosopher, novelist, and political theorist. This title devotes two chapters to Rousseaus eventful life, another to a detailed discussion of his 1762 work "The Social Contract," and a fourth to the impact that he had on the Founding Fathers of the United States. While "The Social Contract" is explored in the greatest depth, other of his (...) worksincluding his passionately argued Discourses, wildly popular novels, successful opera, and genre-shaping "Confessions"are also covered. (shrink)

The health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic revealed limitations in health systems worldwide, making it necessary to establish a bioethical framework that provides tools to drive health professionals’ decision-making amid scarce health resources. Bioethical models such as principlism, utilitarianism, and personalism seek to focus clinical decisions on respect for people’s rights and dignity, thus protecting the medical practice. Personalism provides a person-centered approach to respect for human dignity during health emergencies to avoid giving material meaning to the individual. Decision (...) criteria are required to face bioethical conflicts in clinical practice, reducing the legal, emotional, and ethical burden of decision-making in pandemic situations. (shrink)

Millikan [2000] has levelled a number of persuasive criticisms against Cummins's [1996] theory of mental representation. In this paper, I pave a middle path in the debate between Cummins [2000] and Millikan [2000] to answer two questions. How are representations applied to targets? How is the content of a representation determined? The result is a new theory of mental representation, which I call narrow structuralism.

Using a standard trust game, we elicit trust and reciprocity measures in a representative sample of adult players in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, a country that received a sizeable influx of Venezuelan and Cuban migrants, has lower internal disparities than other Latin American countries and exhibits relatively better levels of tolerance towards migrants. We find no statistically significant differences in trust levels of Uruguayans towards countrymen versus migrants and mixed results regarding reciprocity, with migrants exhibiting a flatter response (...) to trust than their local counterparts. (shrink)

Some of the most relevant problems today both in Science and practical problems involves Coupled Socio-ecological Systems, which are some of the best examples of Complex Systems. In this work we discuss groundwater-management as an example of these Coupled Socio-ecological System, also known as Coupled Human and Natural Systems. We argue that it is possible and even necessary to construct a contextual statistical theory of groundwater management. Contextuality implies some very different statistical features as entanglement and complementarity. We discuss some (...) interpretation about statistical entanglement and statistical complementarity in terms of groundwater flow theory and extraction equation. To this end, we propose a non-Kolmogorobian approach following the Växjö school of thought. One of the most straightforward conclusions is that in this way, a statistical-contextual treatment of groundwater management may not only give place to new flow equations, but it could have a profound impact in resource management. Then the new basic unity of analysis should be the indivisible pair. We should not talk any more about aquifer dynamics or resource management plans by themselves. Physical and social systems are coupled in a statistical-contextual fundamental way, and a socio-hydrogeological theory should be developed. (shrink)

Intersecting systems of inequality are remarkably resistant to change. Many universities, however, seek National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation awards to change processes, procedures, and cultures to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics departments more inclusive. In this article we describe a case study with observations for eight years of before, five during, and seven after intensive efforts to increase women through reducing barriers and increasing access to women. Finally, we reflect on flawed assumptions built into the proposal, the slow and (...) uneven change in the proportion of women over time, the strengths and weaknesses of numeric assessments, and the value of a longer view for seeing how seeds planted with promising practices initiated during the award may end with the funding but can reemerge and bear fruit when faculty who engage in equity work are in positions of authority later in their careers. (shrink)

In this paper we evaluate and confirm the effectiveness of including curriculum training on career management as a component of university studies. The behaviour of the students in this study was modified by the uncertainty created by the crisis in the labour market due to the pandemic.Our results confirm that universities need to develop the generic and academic skills demanded by the labour market in order to provide their students with comprehensive training while also taking joint responsibility for developing their (...) students’ career management skills. (shrink)

Both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union believe that information and communication technologies have potential to transform the way in which we work. Many organizations, including those of the Third Social Sector, have to incorporate the web 2.0 tools and social software into their structures and their daily activity. The aim of this article is to analyze whether these tools are regularly used by institutions of the Third Social Sector in Catalonia in an attempt to (...) transform their daily tasks and move towards a change in their organizational culture. (shrink)

La polysémie, surtout quand elle est conflictuelle, est toujours problématique pour la raison. Gallie explore une voie paradoxale : considérer une certaine polysémie conflictuelle comme la propriété positive et indépassable de certains concepts qu’il appelle essentiellement contestés. Le fait que leurs utilisateurs s’opposent naturellement à propos de leur usage légitime n’est pas une anomalie résultant...

This research tackled the challenges public secondary schools in Sagbayan District, Bohol, faced regarding records management. The study employed a mixed research design, combining both descriptive-qualitative and descriptive- quantitative methods. The qualitative phase involved conducting in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders involved in records management. On the other hand, the quantitative phase utilized survey questionnaires to gather data from relevant stakeholders to determine the acceptability of the proposed MIS among end-users. The first phase findings revealed various challenges (...) in records management faced by the schools, such as inefficient manual record-keeping systems, difficulties in data retrieval, and the risk of data loss due to inadequate backup procedures. These challenges highlighted the need for a comprehensive, technology-driven solution to streamline records management processes and ensure data security. The evaluation results in the second phase showed that the developed Management Information System (MIS) was well-accepted among the end users. The absence of any significant difference in the level of acceptability among the participants further validated the system's suitability for addressing their specific needs. The successful implementation of the MIS proved to be an effective solution to the records management challenges faced by the public secondary schools in Sagbayan District, Bohol. (shrink)

Here we provide an overview of some of the central ethical issues related to the use of surgical robots. Subsequently we introduce an anticipatory ethical analysis of possible consequences for the use of robotic surgery. Anticipatory ethics aims at identifying ethical problems with emerging technologies while they are at the introductory stages for a wide range of stakeholders. Robotic surgery presents a range of positive possibilities, which include treating patients more safely and effectively to caring for patients with telesurgery at (...) remote locations. However, injuries and deaths caused by robotic surgical platforms (RSPs) pose roadblocks to full realization of this technology. Investment in RSPs by for-profits like hospitals requires a detailed stakeholder analysis that takes into account both institutional and patient perspectives. It will take carefully crafted policy and regulation based upon sound technical and ethical analysis to induce the widespread adoption of this surgical method. (shrink)

As the popularity of the concept of ideology has waned, its ordinary or everyday usage has mirrored the plight of its scolarly usage, with the postulate of a “negative” and a “positive” sense of the term, and the opposition between an “ideological” and a “pragmatic” perspective, albeit with a recognition that ideology does involve a pragmatic dimension. The underlying anti-Marxism of this approach is evidence of a successful polemical strategy. This is an indication that its polemical thrust is an essential (...) aspect of the concept, and that one of the difficulties of “ideology” is that it is the site of the very struggles for whose analysis it provides a conceptual instrument. (shrink)

In this essay a vision of the synthesis of thought on the part of the Checkoslovakian philosopher Karel Kosick is presented. His work inspired by theMarxist dialectic and the philosophy of praxis, is, and will become ever more so, a theoretical reference for the understanding of the development o..

The author points in this article to the social and political importance of the theory of fetishism and the alienation of Marx when analyzing the social criticism that the development of the hegemonic forces of capitalism on a global scale de served. The post-structuralist and post-marx ist metaphys..

Depuis son invention par Destutt de Tracy et sa réinvention par Marx et Engels, le concept d'idéologie n'a cessé de faire problème. Passé dans le langage courant, largement utilisé par les sciences humaines, bien qu'en des significations souvent exclusives les unes des autres, il hante la philosophie comme une sorte de mauvais génie perturbateur qui lui rappellerait l'impureté de ses origines et de ses usages, et qu'il lui faudrait toujours s'employer à réduire ou à sublimer. Encore faudrait-il en produire une (...) définition cohérente. Mais comment y parvenir sans une enquête systématique, à la fois analytique et épistémologique, qui tienne compte de la multiplicité des usages et dégage une problématique générale, sans éluder pour autant la question du caractère polémique du concept? C'est ce qu'a entrepris Nestor Capdevila en déterminant le jeu de significations pertinentes, bien que potentiellement contradictoires, qui sont à l'œuvre dans les analyses historiques, anthropologiques ou théologiques contemporaines où l'on peut étudier son fonctionnement. Cette approche nouvelle conteste la thèse accréditée par la tradition sociologique d'une modernité de l'idéologie, totalitaire ou non. Elle montre la valeur d'un modèle religieux fondé sur le concept d'hérésie qui, tout en reconnaissant l'exemplarité idéologique de la religion, ne réduit pas l'idéologie à la religion. Elle critique également les définitions de l'idéologie qui par souci d'objectivité prétendent purifier le concept de son aspect intrinsèquement polémique. Celui-ci fait du concept d'idéologie une illustration exemplaire de la dimension politique des concepts de la politique. (shrink)

Marsile de Padoue a été jugé comme un penseur médiéval ou un précurseur de la modernité en raison de sa défense de l’empire et de la thèse dite de la souveraineté populaire. Ces discussions négligent la dimension impériale de la modernité et séparent des thèses qui sont liées dans la pensée de l’auteur. L’argumentation de Marsile de Padoue permet d’analyser rétrospectivement les affinités de la logique des concepts d’empire et de souveraineté populaire en montrant la part d’imaginaire de leur objet. (...) Elle est une condition de leur existence et un argument pour la mettre en doute. (shrink)

Marx or Tocqueville : Capitalism or Democracy Marx and Tocqueville were the conceptual icons and rallying-points of the two sides in the cold war.It is common today to consider that the outcome of this confrontation saw the victory of the latterover the former, to the extent that Tocqueville had shown greater prescience in the analysis of theevolution of western societies. However such an evaluation presumes that there is a substantial degreeof overlap between these two competing paradigms, whereas there is in (...) fact a fundamental oppositionbetween them regarding the point of view deemed to be pertinent for the task of the qualificationand conceptualisation of modern societies. Are these societies to be qualified as democratic societies,increasingly subject to the empire of equality, or as capitalist societies which are increasingly subject tothe empire of capital ? The article examines the theoretical consequences stemming form the differencein the problematic that is adopted. Tocqueville’s perspective involves a polemical appropriation of thevocabulary of democracy in order to interpret the “nature” of the latter in what is a liberal perspective.This enables us to understand that the task of examining the relation between Marx and democracydoes not simply mean the attempt to situate his position in relation to a stable and predefined object.It involves the critique of the polemical strategies for the appropriation of the term of democracy, astrategy from which Marx distances himself by way of the reference to communism. (shrink)

Il arrive que la guerre froide soit pensée comme une victoire de Tocqueville sur Marx. Le dialogue imaginé dans ce livre montre que les idées de démocratie ou de mode de production capitaliste sont d’abord une alternative théorique pour penser la société contemporaine. La redéfinition possible de la démocratie sur le modèle de celle du communisme par Marx crée cependant un terrain où les positions théoriques et politiques peuvent s’affronter pour déterminer le cours de la révolution permanente de leur temps. (...) Tocqueville veut contrôler ce processus dans un sens libéral et Marx le révolutionner dans un sens communiste. D’un point de vue tocquevillien, la guerre froide est terminée parce que la démocratie est enfin séparée de la révolution. Elle est un ordre où règne la loi, et non un processus. La dialectique de la démocratie et du communisme, à la fois opposées et en continuité, montre cependant la fragilité théorique de cette thèse en faisant sentir la tendance de l’idée démocratique à s’idéologiser, que dénonçait aussi Tocqueville, et pose la question de sa capacité à maintenir sa puissance utopique. (shrink)

Se propone el uso de la Semiótica como herramienta integradora para investigar los aspectos fundamentales de los seres vivos. Como tal, la Biosemiótica abre nuevas perspectivas metodológicas para integrar un gran numero de fenómenos aparentemente no vinculados o incompatibles entre sí. EI principio básico es que la Biología, desde el nivel molecular al sistemíco, puede ser estudiada como comunicación, y los procesos biológicos como interacciones mediadas por signos. La vida es definida como una propiedad sistemica de la materia. La Biología (...) es, en si misma y en todos sus aspectos, Semiótica Natural próxima al caos determinista. EI paradigma biosemiótico es propuesto como un paso hacia la formulación de una teoría sintética de la vida, que incorpore los componentes mecanistico-moIeculares, interpretaciones semioticas, y Ia historia natural de los sistemas vivientes.Semiotics is introduced as an integrative approach to investigate the intimate features of living systems. As an overarching concept, Biosemiotics offers new methodological perspectives to integrate a vast number of apparently unrelated phenomena. The basic tenet is that Biology, from the molecular to the systemic level, can be investigated as communication, and biological processes as sign-mediated interactions. Life is defined as a systemic property of matter. Biology is then, in all its aspects, Natural Semiotics with a proximity to deterministic chaos. The biosemiotic paradigm is intended as a step toward the establishment of a synthetic theory of life, incorporating the molecular-mechanistic components, the semiotic interpretations, and the natural history of the living systems. (shrink)