We report the identification of a recurrent, 520-kb 16p12.1 microdeletion associated with childhood developmental delay. The microdeletion was detected in 20 of 11,873 cases compared with 2 of 8,540 controls and replicated in a second series of 22 of 9,254 cases compared with 6 of 6,299 controls. Most deletions were inherited, with carrier parents likely to manifest neuropsychiatric phenotypes compared to non-carrier parents. Probands were more likely to carry an additional large copy-number variant when compared to matched controls. The clinical (...) features of individuals with two mutations were distinct from and/or more severe than those of individuals carrying only the co-occurring mutation. Our data support a two-hit model in which the 16p12.1 microdeletion both predisposes to neuropsychiatric phenotypes as a single event and exacerbates neurodevelopmental phenotypes in association with other large deletions or duplications. Analysis of other microdeletions with variable expressivity indicates that this two-hit model might be more generally applicable to neuropsychiatric disease. © 2010 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved. (shrink)

Le philosophe canadien Charles Taylor est un des penseurs contemporains qui jouit d’une reconnaissance mondiale : il a initié et participé à plusieurs débats relatifs au libéralisme, au communautarisme et au multiculturalisme. Son œuvre est pluridimensionnelle puisque ses travaux portant, entre autres, sur la théorie de science, la théorie du langage, la théorie de l’action et de la personne, la théorie de la modernité.La pensée de Charles Taylor s’est élaborée non seulement en se nourrissant des traditions aussi bien phénoménologique qu’analytique, (...) mais, très concrètement, en prise directe avec les problèmes soulevés dans la société canadienne par la très grande diversité des immigrations. Sa pensée mérite d’autant plus à être méditée que les tentations de repli communautaire, si ce n’est de purification ethnique, semblent aujourd’hui croissantes. Les contributions – pour moitié en anglais – de ce colloque organisé à Budapest en 2012 en l’honneur et en présence de Charles Taylor invitent au contraire à interroger et à poursuivre son analyse des conditions qui permettraient l’avènement d’un monde véritablement pluriel. (shrink)

The governance of human (germline) genome modification at the international and transnational level -- The regulation of human germline genome modification in Canada (E Kleiderman) -- The regulation of human germline genome modification in the United States (Kerry Macintosh) -- The regulation of human germline genome modification in Mexico (M Medina Arellano) -- The regulation of human germline genome modification in Europe (J Almqvist, C Romano) -- The regulation of human germline genome modification in the United Kingdom (J Lawford (...) Davies) -- The regulation of human germline genome modification in Germany (T Faltus). (shrink)

I argue that a particle ontology naturally emerges from the basic dynamical equations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, when the quantum continuity equation is realistically interpreted. This was recognized by J.J. Sakurai in his famous textbook “Modern Quantum Mechanics”, and then dismissed on the basis of the Heisenberg position–momentum uncertainty principle. In this paper, I show that the reasons of this rejection are based on a misunderstanding of the physical import of the uncertainty principle. As a consequence, a particle ontology can (...) be derived from the quantum formalism without the need of additional ad hoc assumptions, and therefore it cannot be regarded as “extra-structure”. (shrink)

The election of George Bush heralded a shift to the right in American politics and with it the expectation of a more conservative approach to issues such as abortion. In an interesting twist, however, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld a decision that has been described as potentially “coercive of abortion”. David Oakley, a father of nine children with four different mothers was found guilty of intentionally refusing to pay child support and was sentenced to three years in prison followed (...) by five years' probation. As a condition of his probation, Oakley cannot have any more children unless he demonstrates that he has the ability to support them and that he is supporting the children he already has. Failure to comply with the conditions of the probation would result in a further eight years' imprisonment. Oakley argued that the condition violated his right to procreate, since he was unlikely ever to be able to support all of his children, but his appeal was rejected. The majority decision held that, since the conditions were “not overly broad” and were “reasonably related to the person's rehabilitation”, the conditions of probation could legitimately impinge upon constitutional rights. In dissenting from the majority decision, Ann Walsh Bradley, J stated: “[b]ecause the condition is triggered only upon the birth of a child, the risk of imprisonment creates a strong incentive for a man in Oakley's position to demand from the woman the termination of her pregnancy. It places the woman in an untenable position: have an abortion or be responsible for Oakley going to prison for eight years”.1 One commentator has pointed out that, in this case, “one precept of rightwing politics–that the state should not pay for the upkeep of offspring irresponsibly acquired–has come into conflict with another: that normal healthy people should …. (shrink)

Traditional monotheism has long faced logical puzzles. We argue that such puzzles rest on the assumed logical truth of the Law of Excluded Middle, which we suggest there is little theological reason to accept. By way of illustration we focus on God's alleged stone problem, and present a simple but plausible ‘gappy’ framework for addressing this puzzle. We assume familiarity with the proposed logic but an appendix is offered as a brief review.

Tras el estudio inicial de R. Bultmann, y pasando por los significativos aportes de S. K. Stowers y C. Song, el extenso reconocimiento por parte de los exégetas paulinos relativo a la presencia del género diatriba en Romanos, no se corresponde con los comentarios generalizantes de los cuales es objeto μὴ γένοιτο en dicha epístola. En este marco, al momento de determinar el sentido de μὴ γένοιτο en Romanos los exégetas paulinos se limitan a: constatar la relación entre μὴ γένοιτο (...) y el género diatriba; mencionar las similitudes entre el uso paulino de μὴ γένοιτο en Romanos y el uso de μὴ γένοιτο por parte de Epicteto en su Disertaciones; proveer una lista de los pasajes en los que se encuentra μὴ γένοιτο en Romanos ; conjeturar, en algunos casos, un ; semítico trasfondo posible destacar que μὴ γένοιτο siempre es antecedido por una pregunta; subrayar la naturaleza enfática de μὴ γένοιτο. (shrink)

This book outlines the realist and pluralist philosophy of John Anderson, Australia's most original thinker. His teaching at Sydney University and his arti6es have deeply influenced Australian intellectual life. Several main themes run through his work, but Anderson never gave an overall account of his views. This is remedied here: exhibiting the range of Anderson's thought from logic, epistemology and theory of mind, to language and social theory, this volume sketches realism as a systematic philosophical position, while showing something of (...) the history of ideas in Australia. (shrink)

First published in 1912, and originally intended as a textbook for students in secondary school, this book gives an overview of the human and physical geography of the occupied areas of the earth's surface. The text is richly illustrated with diagrams, tables, and contemporary photographs of places of interest. Although in general Dicks manages to rise above the colonial viewpoint prevalent at the time, certain aspects of the text are reflective of racial attitudes during this period of the twentieth century. (...) This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of education. (shrink)