Cancer derives from a cell clone that has accumulated genetic and epigenetic changes that influence its phenotype and finally enable it to escape from the normal controls of proliferation. A recent paper shows that, in myc‐induced tumours, the inactivation of this oncogene produces the regression of the tumours and the differentiation of the tumour cells into mature osteocytes.1 In addition, a further reactivation of myc in these cells does not restore the malignant phenotype but induces apoptosis. This discovery could lead (...) to an innovative therapeutic strategy. BioEssays 25:104–107, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

This paper advances a version of the theory whereby logic had deep origins in democracy, by re-reading Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen. Democracy, ‘the government by debate’, called political (and scientific) attention to the inferential abilities of citizens and to politicians’ ability of taking advantage of them. Sophists, in particular, discovered that people’s inferences follow constant repeatable forms, that these forms have impact on choices and decisions concerning public good, and then by dominating them you dominate politics in democracy. With the (...) Encomium Gorgias launched these ideas, so laying the ground for Aristotle’s science of deduction. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to show the reasons, presentin Hobbes’ philosophy, that force us to conclude that God, as sufficientreason that necessitate the entire causal chain, is incompatible with themechanistic system presented by Hobbes in works such as Concerningbody [1655-6] and Leviathan [1651]. For this, I present the foundations ofHobbes’ doctrine of causality, as well as its connection with the mechanicalcausal influx of nature, with the aim of showing that: since all thatexists is body, or God must be (...) corporeal and, thus, not be God — i.e.,does not satisfy the demand of self-sufficient sufficient reason —, or Godis not corporeal and, therefore, does not exist. (shrink)

The need for the political empowerment of women, and the role played by the media in both promoting and hindering it are well-known problems. A new opportunity to consider these problems as regards the Italian case was afforded by the 1999 presidential election. During that selection process, the proposal to appoint a woman as head of the nation was, for the first time, brought into the arena for debate. Neither of the two women who were candidates – European Commissioner Emma (...) Bonino and Minister of the Interior Rosa Russo Jervolino – were elected. Using the `public arenas model' and the concept of `framing', the article explores the rise and fall of the two female candidatures by highlighting the limits in the social construction of the women's agenda. Considered from this point of view, the campaign offers an interesting case study in order to better understand the mechanisms of gender exclusion. (shrink)

My experience concerning cases similar to the Wanglie case indicates that there was virtually no possibility of a solution for the conflict between the different expectations of the Wanglie family and those of the physicians caring for Helga Wanglie. A persistent vegetative state precludes a return to consciousness unless an extraordinary phenomenon takes place. Therefore, the physicians expected to be relieved of the duty of continuing to give Mrs. Wanglie respiratory care. However, her family thought it their duty to provide (...) their loved one with the best possible treatment. The family based their position on the claim that life is God's gift and that only He has the right to terminate it. Such spiritual convictions are perceived as reflective of a higher “truth” and are not predisposed to negotiation or change according to the situation. (shrink)

The objective of this work is to reconstruct the concepts of constellation, parataxis and essay, from the perspective of Theodor Adorno, in order to approach them by affinity, but demonstrating the way that each one expresses within its specificities the Adorno’s insistence in a model of thought in which the non-identical: 1) resists conceptual subsumption by arranging itself in a constellatory configuration; 2) it does not succumb to subordinate juxtapositions typical of merely communicative language; and, 3) finds its best philosophical (...) expression in the essay form. In order to do so, we will take as a starting point the adornian reconstruction of the constellation category as a legacy of Walter Benjamin’s thought, so that later we can present the expansion of this category in Adorno’s thought, relating it both to the conception of parataxis as in the conception of the essay form, but aiming to understand these categories as way of thinking philosophically aiming to elucidate the place of the non-identical in the scope of dialectical thinking of Theodor Adorno. (shrink)

El presente trabajo propone una lectura del libro de poemas Los ligámenes de Mauro Césari. Parte de la “escena” de la catástrofe que el libro repone: el colapso de dos diques mineros en Minas Gerais y el avance de un alud de barro tóxico sobre el poblado y los ríos de la región. Desde allí, busca cartografiar la imaginación material propuesta por el poemario, indagando específicamente en la concepción de escritura de la materia que el libro despliega y en la (...) máquina de lectura que ella supone. Con ese objetivo, recupera la tradición de lectura y escritura propuesta por el neobarroso en un intento por proponer una modulación neobarrotóxica para leer la singularidad de esta escritura. (shrink)

The paper advances the hypothesis that, in Thomas Reid's reading, David Hume's skepticism of the Treatise on Human Nature is not solely due to his acceptance of the ‘ideal hypothesis’ – the principle according to which ideas are the immediate objects of the mental operations –, but it has another source, namely, that doubt on the reliability of the faculties of the senses, memory, and reason. Moreover, the paper argues that the suggested distinction between two roots for Hume’s skepticism allows (...) a more exact view on Reid’s reading of Hume and solve some misinterpretations. (shrink)

The overflow of scientific literature stimulates poor reading habits which can aggravate science's reproducibility crisis. Thus, solving the reproducibility crisis demands not only methodological changes, but also changes in our relationship with the scientific literature, especially our reading habits. Importantly, this does not mean reading more, it means reading better.

We present a description of the Stern–Gerlach type experiments using only the concepts of classical electrodynamics and the Newton’s equations of motion. The quantization of the projections of the spin (or the projections of the magnetic dipole) is not introduced in our calculations. The main characteristic of our approach is a quantitative analysis of the motion of the magnetic atoms at the entrance of the magnetic field region. This study reveals a mechanism which modifies continuously the orientation of the magnetic (...) dipole of the atom in a very short time interval, at the entrance of the magnetic field region. The mechanism is based on the conservation of the total energy associated with a magnetic dipole which moves in a non uniform magnetic field generated by an electromagnet. A detailed quantitative comparison with the (1922) Stern–Gerlach experiment and the didactical (1967) experiment by J.R. Zacharias is presented. We conclude, contrary to the original Stern–Gerlach statement, that the classical explanations are not ruled out by the experimental data. (shrink)

O artigo propõe abordar a construção da imagem de Isabel, a Católica aproximando Luiz de França foi um dos mais significativos mestres de maracatu nação. Dirigiu e articulou o maracatu Nação Leão Coroado, entre os anos de 1950 até sua morte, em 1997. Ainda hoje a sua memória é reivindicada por grupos de maracatus existentes no Recife. Tal questão indica diferentes aspectos nos processos de construção das memórias, e da forma como estas são usadas no presente. Este artigo objetiva discutir (...) e analisar as performances de Luiz de França, bem como suas estratégias cotidianas a partir das memórias dos maracatuzeiros pernambucanos. Entendendo a memória como fruto dos processos históricos, também é objetivo deste trabalho analisar as diferentes formas como a memória é construída, trazendo à tona questões de ordem teórico-epistemológica a respeito da cultura negra, dos maracatus e dos maracatuzeiros recifenses. (shrink)

This article presents a set of principles for knowledge modeling in knowledge organization systems in specific domains. It discusses the representational problem, comparing the abstraction mechanisms present in the theories related to representation in concept systems, taken from foundational authors of information science, computer science, and terminology approaches. Parallel to this context, several representational possibilities arise to assist the modeler in the activity of elaborating models of representation. It describes the application of theoretical and methodological principles when organizing, representing, and (...) managing navigation on learning paths in the corporate education field. As a concept proof, it exposes a conceptual model of learning paths and discusses a literature review on this subject to verify to what extent these principles are being applied. It concludes that we can consider the principles discussed in this study as relevant, since they expand the modelers’ freedom, not making him hostage to a specific model. (shrink)

From the beginning of the xx century onwards, European art has gone through a remarkable mutation since Picasso shattered and chopped forms in painting through cubism, and Duchamp contemporaneously sabotaged the very idea of art with his invention of the ready made. Starting from an extensive consideration of this mutation, we tried and questioned the impact of the duchampean gesture and other subsequent artistic practices, by means of a frame of esthetic and philosophical reflection focused on the notions of art, (...) work of art, beauty, sublime, judgment of taste, spectator, ready made, and esthetic experience, inter alia. Also, our discussion questions the role of fiction in art, by means of an excerpt of a literary narration whose protagonists, a painter and his slave, seek, by the workings of drawing, to inscribe suffering and pardon at the heart of the creation act. We are thus led to think that whatever lies at the source of any interpretation of the [work of] art is an enigma and a conflict which cannot be seen through. (shrink)

From the beginning of the xx century onwards, European art has gone through a remarkable mutation since Picasso shattered and chopped forms in painting through cubism, and Duchamp contemporaneously sabotaged the very idea of art with his invention of the ready made. Starting from an extensive consideration of this mutation, we tried and questioned the impact of the duchampean gesture and other subsequent artistic practices, by means of a frame of esthetic and philosophical reflection focused on the notions of art, (...) work of art, beauty, sublime, judgment of taste, spectator, ready made, and esthetic experience, inter alia. Also, our discussion questions the role of fiction in art, by means of an excerpt of a literary narration whose protagonists, a painter and his slave, seek, by the workings of drawing, to inscribe suffering and pardon at the heart of the creation act. We are thus led to think that whatever lies at the source of any interpretation of the [work of] art is an enigma and a conflict which cannot be seen through. (shrink)

O budismo é a quarta maior religião do mundo, reunindo cerca de meio bilhão de seguidores. No Brasil, por outro lado, esta religião representa uma parcela muito pequena da população, cerca de apenas 0,13%, num total de 245 mil budistas. Contudo existe uma ilusão de que há um crescimento do budismo no Brasil, pois tem ocorrido um despertar pela indústria do bem-estar, em especial em meditações mindfullness, workshops e imersões de meditações, páginas de jornais e revistas tratam sobre este assunto. (...) Mas este despertar pelo orientalismo não se reflete no número de seguidores do budismo no Brasil. Se compararmos o crescimento do budismo ao longo do CENSO com o crescimento da população brasileira no mesmo período, veremos que o budismo não cresceu na mesma proporção, o que representa um decréscimo na proporção da população do número de adeptos. Para compor o presente ensaio foi realizada revisão bibliográfica, análise dos dados históricos do CENSO e análise crítica da situação. (shrink)