This study investigates the determinants of the ratification of International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). To do so, it proposes an explanation that postulates that states employ treaty ratification as a device to signal their resolve to implement polices required by the treaty at issue in order to appease demanding domestic constituencies, predicting that states with lower compliance capacity tend to commit faster than states with higher compliance capacity. Applying this explanation to the ICESCR leads to two (...) expectations. First, the larger government spending a proxy of high compliance capacity is hypothesized to delay the ratification process. Second, states with the unitary system are expected to ratify the ICESCR more promptly because the centralized power structure in unitary states significantly restricts the pursuit of the policy autonomy by minorities at local level that the right to self-determination entails. The Cox proportional hazard analysis lends support to both hypotheses. (shrink)

Between 300,000 and 250,000 years ago early humans in Africa and Eurasia began to use durable material substances and objects as media for signaling. Initially material signals were confined to ochre and other pigments, but over time objects such as beads were also added as technologies for sending messages. Changes in the types of materials used, their durability and costs, and the contexts of their disposal indicate a series of transitions in how early humans employed signaling media. (...) class='Hi'>Signaling theory from biology suggests that shifts in technologies over the course of the Pleistocene reflect problems in coordinating action and resolving conflicts within increasingly large and internally differentiated societies. (shrink)

I propose that a dishonest signaling system can be evolutionarily stable in eusocial animal societies if the amount of dishonesty is balanced by the chance of non-reproductive workers to advance to the reproductive caste in the future. I express this trade-off in a modified form of Hamilton’s rule, where I distinguish between the real and perceived cost of an altruistic act, and between the real and perceived genetic relatedness between colony members. Furthermore, I elaborate how the vertebrate neuromodulator oxytocin (...) could serve as an internal representation of the perceived cost of an altruistic act and of perceived relatedness. Behavioral and receptor localization data support this hypothesis. The encoding of cost and relatedness by oxytocin is likely integrated with a number of other functions related to social bonding. I conclude with a discussion of honesty in signaling, an outline of testable consequences of this hypothesis, and a comparison between vertebrate and insect eusociality. (shrink)

Phagocytosis is an uptake of large particles governed by the actin-based cytoskeleton. Binding of particles to specific cell surface receptors is the first step of phagocytosis. In higher Eucaryota, the receptors able to mediate phagocytosis are expressed almost exclusively in macrophages, neutrophils, and monocytes, conferring immunodefence properties to these cells. Receptor clustering is thought to occur upon particle binding, that in turn generates a phagocytic signal. Several pathways of phagocytic signal transduction have been identified, including the activation of tyrosine kinases (...) and (or) serine/threonine kinase C in pivotal roles. Kinase activation leads to phosphorylation of the receptors and other proteins, recruited at the sites of phagocytosis. Monomeric GTPases of the Rho and ARF families are likely to be engaged downstream of activated receptors. The GTPases, in cooperation with phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase lipid modifying enzymes, can modulate locally the assembly of the submembranous actin filament system leading to particle internalization. BioEssays 21:422–431, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

The insulin/insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) signaling (IIS) pathway is a pivotal genetic program regulating cell growth, tissue development, metabolic physiology, and longevity of multicellular organisms. IIS integrates a fine‐tuned cascade of signaling events induced by insulin/IGF‐1, which is precisely controlled by post‐translational modifications. The ubiquitin/proteasome‐system (UPS) influences the functionality of IIS through inducible ubiquitylation pathways that regulate internalization of the insulin/IGF‐1 receptor, the stability of downstream insulin/IGF‐1 signaling targets, and activity of nuclear receptors for control of gene (...) expression. An age‐related decline in UPS activity is often associated with an impairment of IIS, contributing to pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent findings identified a key role of diverse ubiquitin modifications in insulin signaling decisions, which governs dynamic adaption upon environmental and physiological changes. In this review, we discuss the mutual crosstalk between ubiquitin and insulin signaling pathways in the context of cellular and organismal homeostasis. (shrink)

Interaction of ligands such as epidermal growth factor and interferon‐γ with the extracellular domains of their plasma membrane receptors results in internalization followed by translocation into the nucleus of the ligand and/or receptor. There has been reluctance, however, to ascribe signaling importance to this, the focus instead being on second messenger pathways, including mobilization of kinases and inducible transcription factors (TFs). The latter, however, fails to explain the fact that so many ligands stimulate the same second messenger cascades/TFs, and (...) yet show distinct gene activation profiles. This is particularly apt in the case of the seven STAT TFs that are held to be the mediators of the distinct cellular functions of over 60 ligands. The current review focuses on five representative nuclear localizing ligands for which there is documentation of translocation into the cytosol and nucleus through well‐characterized pathways, in addition to a role in gene activation by ligand/receptor in the nucleus. BioEssays 26:993‐1004, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

GianCarlo Ghirardi passed away on June 1st, 201. He would have turned 83 on October 28, 2018. He was without any doubt one of the most prominent theoretical physicists working on the foundation and the philosophy of quantum mechanics. In this paper I review some of his achievements and underline how his research influenced the philosophy of physics community.

When cells are starved of their substrate, many nutrient transporters are induced. These undergo rapid endocytosis and redirection of their intracellular trafficking when their substrate becomes available again. The discovery that some of these transporters also act as receptors, or transceptors, suggests that at least part of the sophisticated controls governing the trafficking of these proteins has to do with their signaling function rather than with control of transport. In yeast, the general amino acid permease Gap1 mediates signaling (...) to the protein kinase A pathway. Its endocytic internalization and intracellular trafficking are subject to amino acid control. Other nutrient transceptors controlling this signal transduction pathway appear to be subject to similar trafficking regulation. Transporters with complex regulatory control have also been suggested to function as transceptors in other organisms. Hence, precise regulation of intracellular trafficking in nutrient transporters may be related to the need for tight control of nutrient‐induced signaling. (shrink)

Eric Posner’s signaling theory of social norms holds that individuals adopt social norms in order to signal that they have a low discount rate , and are therefore reliable long-term cooperative partners. This paper radically expands Posner’s theory by incorporating internalization into his model . I do this by tethering Posner’s theory to an evolutionary model. I argue that internalization is an adaptive quality that enhances the individual’s ability to play Posner’s signaling game and was thus selected for. (...) The idea that internalization is evolutionarily conditioned is not new; however, linking this to Posner’s theory of discount rate signals is, and doing so offers tremendous explanatory potential.Part I identifies the limitations of Posner’s purely rational choice approach, argues for the necessity of including internalization, and then proposes a model that does so – what I call the Expanded Signaling Model of Norms . Part II examines the problems that arise when we embrace such a model. How this model answers some key criticisms plaguing sociobiology is also briefly explored. Part III then examines existing criticisms of Posner’s theory, demonstrating how the Expanded Signaling Model clearly resolves these issues. The paper concludes that incorporating internalization into Posner’s signaling model greatly broadens the explanatory reach of Posner’s theory, providing a measure of clarity and predictability regarding how and why norms are internalized – an important insight, as these beliefs form the normative underpinning to law. (shrink)

Disabled‐2 (Dab2) is a multimodular scaffold protein with signaling roles in the domains of cell growth, trafficking, differentiation, and homeostasis. Emerging evidences place Dab2 as a novel modulator of cell–cell interaction; however, its mode of action has remained largely elusive. In this review, we highlight the relevance of Dab2 function in cell signaling and development and provide the most recent and comprehensive analysis of Dab2's action as a mediator of homotypical and heterotypical interactions. Accordingly, Dab‐2 controls the extent (...) of platelet aggregation through various motifs within its N‐terminus. Dab2 interacts with the cytosolic tail of the integrin receptor blocking inside‐out signaling, whereas extracellular Dab2 competes with fibrinogen for integrin αIIbβ3 receptor binding and, thus, modulates outside‐in signaling. An additional level of regulation results from Dab2's association with cell surface lipids, an event that defines the extent of cell–cell interactions. As a multifaceted regulator, Dab2 acts as a mediator of endocytosis through its association with the [FY]xNPx[YF] motifs of internalized cell surface receptors, phosphoinositides, and clathrin. Other emerging roles of Dab2 include its participation in developmental mechanisms required for tissue formation and in modulation of immune responses. This review highlights the various novel mechanisms by which Dab2 mediates an array of signaling events with vast physiological consequences. (shrink)

The proposed article presents the socio-philosophical substantiation of the integration of ethno-functional methodology in the construction of ontological and axiological foundations of modern communication. The author reveals the main provisions of the polydisciplinary ethno-functional paradigm O. Sukharev (the idea of the meaningful role of ethnicity, understanding of the ethno-environment as a continuum of internal, external and transcendental spheres of the person, the position on the ethno-integrating and ethno-disintegrating role of the human relation to the elements of the ethno-environment) and (...) proposes the possible variants of their projection to solve problems related to communication.The emphasis is placed on the fact that the involvement of the methodological capabilities of the ethno-functional approach will ensure the construction of the value-semantic principles of communication, taking into account the trends of the cultural and historical situation of the modern world: the unification and globalization of the cultural space, the growth of ethnic marginalization of mankind, ethnocultural particularity and mosaicism, exponential development of information and communication processes, active intercultural communication, problems of intercontinental migration, forced migration, etc. The assertion that the existing value- semantic communications bases of a particular ethno-environment operate in either a ethnointegrable or an ethno-de-inclusive role are substantiated, promote or impede both intranational and international communicative connections between people.In the context of the theme of the proposed studio the notion of value orientations of the person is defined, the specifics of modern relations between utilitarian and spiritual values are outlined, the content volume of meaning is represented as a category of social communication, its attributes (communicative intersubjectiveness, universality, legitimacy) are named. It is emphasized that in ethno-communicative communication certain meanings acquire meaningful and social status, while others lose their legitimacy and form the periphery of the sense of formation, its reserve. It is argued that consideration of the ethno- functional methodology in the implementation of communication will allow to balance the priorities of national self-identity and cosmopolitanism, to recreate the communicative aspect of the dialectic of globalization and nationalism.The socio-philosophical conclusions that the realization in the intercommunication space of such elements of the mentality of the ethnic group as values and meanings is an important personal, social and supranational significance is made. The applied clause on the possibility of implementing educational and pedagogical methods in forming the value-semantic sphere of the individual for the achievement of the appropriate level of personal, social and interethnic communication is proposed.The territorial and methodological significance of the ethno-functional approach for the modern stage of Ukrainian national statehood is updated. The projection of an ethno-functional approach in socio-philosophical modeling and substantiation of value-semantic criteria in the construction of interstate and interethnic communication, negotiation and dialogue has been developed. Keywords: modern communication, dialogue, ethno-functional approach, value- semantic constants, theoretical and methodological foundations, mentality, ethno- functional communication, sociocultural pryscriptiveness. (shrink)

Cells live in dynamic environments that necessitate perpetual adaptation. Since cells have limited resources to monitor external inputs, they are required to maximize the information content of perceived signals. This challenge is not unique to microscopic life: Animals use senses to perceive inputs and adequately respond. Research showed that sensory‐perception is actively shaped by learning and expectation allowing internal cognitive models to “fill in the blanks” in face of limited information. We propose that cells employ analogous strategies and use (...) internal models shaped through the long process of evolutionary adaptation. Given this perspective, we postulate that cells are prone to “misperceptions,” analogous to visual illusions, leading them to incorrectly decode patterns of inputs that lie outside of their evolutionary experience. Mapping cellular misperception can serve as a fundamental approach for dissecting regulatory networks and could be harnessed to modulate cell behavior, a potentially new avenue for therapy. (shrink)

Previous simulation work on the evolution of communication has not shown how a large signal repertoire could emerge in situated agents. We present an artificial life simulation of agents, situated in a two-dimensional world, that must search for other agents with whom they can trade resources. With strong restrictions on which resources can be traded for others, initially non-communicating agents evolve/learn a signal system that describes the resource they seek and the resource they are willing to offer in return. A (...) large signal repertoire emerges mainly through an evolutionary process. Agents whose production and comprehension abilities rely on a single mechanism fare best, although learning enables agents with separate mechanisms to achieve some measure of success. These results demonstrate that substantial signaling repertoires can evolve in situated multi-agent systems, and suggest that simulated social interactions such as trading may provide a useful context for further computational studies of the evolution of communication. (shrink)

Recent work on signaling has mostly focused on communication between organisms. The Lewis–Skyrms framework should be equally applicable to intra-organismic signaling. We present a Lewis–Skyrms signaling-game model of painful signaling, and use it to argue that the content of pain is predominantly imperative. We address several objections to the account, concluding that our model gives a productive framework within which to consider internal signaling.

This handsomely produced volume contains 22 contributions from international scholars, which were originally presented at the 2000 Conference of the International Society for Phenomenology, Fine Arts, & Aesthetics. The papers center around the theme of gardens and include a wide range of topics of interest to phenomenologists but also, perhaps, to gardeners with a philosophical bent. A sampling of topics: Leonardo's Annunciation Hortus Conclusus and its reflexive intent; hatha yoga--a phenomenological experience of nature; the Chinese attempt to miniaturize the world (...) in gardens; conflating and compressing time in commodified space and architecture; constructing the deconstructive landscape (the ruin aesthetic); and a phenomenological-anthropological aproach to Zen gardens. The volume is lightly indexed by name (mostly philosophers). Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com). (shrink)

The International Panel on Social Progress is an independent association of top research scholars with the goal of assessing methods for improving the main institutions of modern societies. The IPSP has produced a report consisting of twenty-two chapters in three volumes that distills the research of these scholars and outlines what the best social science has to say about positive social change. Written in accessible language by scholars across the social sciences and humanities, these volumes assess the achievements of world (...) societies in past centuries, the current trends, the dangers that we are now facing, and the possible futures in the twenty-first century. It covers the main socio-economic, political, and cultural dimensions of social progress, global as well as regional issues, and the diversity of challenges and their interplay around the world. The authors offer a cautious optimistic conclusion: multiple ideas for social progress and better policies are already available and deserve to be tested and implemented. (shrink)

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Symbolic Computation, AISC 2000, held in Madrid, Spain in July 2000. The 17 revised full papers presented together with three invited papers were carefully reviewed and revised for inclusion in the book. Among the topics addressed are automated theorem proving, logical reasoning, mathematical modeling of multi-agent systems, expert systems and machine learning, computational mathematics, engineering, and industrial applications.

This is the first of three volumes containing a report from the International Panel on Social Progress. The IPSP is an independent association of top research scholars with the goal of assessing methods for improving the main institutions of modern societies. Written in accessible language by scholars across the social sciences and humanities, these volumes assess the achievements of world societies in past centuries, the current trends, the dangers that we are now facing, and the possible futures in the twenty-first (...) century. It covers the main socio-economic, political, and cultural dimensions of social progress, global as well as regional issues, and the diversity of challenges and their interplay around the world. This particular volume covers topics such as economic inequality and growth, finance and corporations, labor, capitalism, and social justice. (shrink)

This is the third of three volumes containing a report from the International Panel on Social Progress. The IPSP is an independent association of top research scholars with the goal of assessing methods for improving the main institutions of modern societies. Written in accessible language by scholars across the social sciences and humanities, these volumes assess the achievements of world societies in past centuries, the current trends, the dangers that we are now facing, and the possible futures in the twenty-first (...) century. It covers the main socio-economic, political, and cultural dimensions of social progress, global as well as regional issues, and the diversity of challenges and their interplay around the world. This particular volume covers topics such as world cultures and religions, families, global health, education, and the contributions of social sciences to institutional change. (shrink)

The orderly sequence of events that constitutes the cell cycle is carefully regulated. A part of this regulation depends upon the ubiquitous calcium signalling system. Many growth factors utilize the messenger inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) to set up prolonged calcium signals, often organized in an oscillatory pattern. These repetitive calcium spikes require both the entry of external calcium and its release from internal stores. One function of this calcium signal is to activate the immediate early genes responsible for inducing resting (...) cells (G0) to re‐enter the cell cycle. It may also promote the initiation of DNA synthesis at the G1/S transition. Finally, calcium contributes to the completion of the cell cycle by stimulating events at mitosis. The role of calcium in cell proliferation is highlighted by the increasing number of anticancer therapies and immunosuppressant drugs directed towards this calcium signalling pathway. (shrink)

The publication of the article “Recent Models of the African Iron Age and the Cattle-Related Evidence” by Hromnik in a journal sponsored by Unesco raises a number of serious issues which we, as members of the International Scientific Committee charged with the responsibility of preparing an up-to-date and scientific history of Africa purged of its mists of racist propaganda, unfounded assertions and misleading and dangerous misinterpretations, cannot ignore. These issues include the scientific accuracy or authenticity of the article.

The origins of human social cooperation confound simple evolutionary explanation. But from Darwin and Durkheim onward, theorists (anthropologists and sociologists especially) have posited a potential link with another curious and distinctively human social trait that cries out for explanation: religion. This dissertation explores one contemporary theory of the co-evolution of religion and human social cooperation: the signalling theory of religion, or religious signalling theory (RST). According to the signalling theory, participation in social religion (and its associated rituals and sanctions) acts (...) as an honest signal of one’s commitment to a religiously demarcated community and its way of doing things. This signal would allow prosocial individuals to positively assort with one another for mutual advantage, to the exclusion of more exploitative individuals. In effect, the theory offers a way that religion and cooperation might explain one another, but which that stays within an individualist adaptive paradigm. My approach is not to assess the empirical adequacy of the religious signalling explanation or contrast it with other explanations, but rather to deal with the theory in its own terms – isolating and fleshing out its core commitments, explanatory potential, and limitations. The key to this is acknowledging the internal complexities of signalling theory, with respect to the available models of honest signalling and the extent of their fit (or otherwise) with religion as a target system. The method is to take seriously the findings of formal modelling in animal signalling and other disciplines, and to apply these (and methods from the philosophy of biology more generally) to progressively build up a comprehensive picture of the theory, its inherent strengths and weaknesses. The first two chapters outline the dual explanatory problems that cooperation and religion present for evolutionary human science, and surveys contemporary approaches toward explaining them. Chapter three articulates an evolutionary conception of the signalling theory, and chapters four to six make the case for a series of requirements, limitations, and principles of application. Chapters seven and eight argue for the value of formal modelling to further flesh out the theory’s commitments and potential and describe some simple simulation results which make progress in this regard. Though the inquiry often problematizes the signalling theory, it also shows that it should not be dismissed outright, and that it makes predictions which are apt for empirical testing. (shrink)

Proceedings of the First Conference of the International Society for Hermeneutics and Science.

In her introduction to this collection, Tymieniecka presents her phenomenology of life - the leitmotif of the three-volume anniversary publication of Analecta Husserliana - as something that stands out from preceding historical attempts to investigate life in an 'integral' or 'scientific' way. After an incubation lasting throughout the 2000 years of Occidental philosophy, this scientific phenomenology/philosophy of life at last uncovers the entire area of the 'inner workings of Nature', exposing the way in which the 'sufficient reason' and the 'ground' (...) of beingness as such crystallise out of the 'onto poietic' process. This onto-poietic process, continuing as it does in the human creative condition, also reveals the authentic genius of the works of the human spirit. This new and original philosophy, free of fallacious simplifications, speculations and reductionism, opens up a basic starting point for all philosophy. Life, 'the theme of our times', at last receives a profound philosophical treatment. (shrink)

Compilation of the most important documents and speeches by Pierre de Coubertin on Olympism and the Olympic Games.

In The Ethics of Food, Gregory E. Pence brings together a collection of voices who share the view that the ethics of genetically modified food is among the most pressing societal questions of our time. This comprehensive collection addresses a broad range of subjects, including the meaning of food, moral analyses of vegetarianism and starvation, the safety and environmental risks of genetically modified food, issues of global food politics and the food industry, and the relationships among food, evolution, and human (...) history. (shrink)