The planning/control distinction is an important tool in the study of sensorimotor transformations. However, published data from our laboratories suggest that, contrary to what is predicted by the proposed model, (1) structures in the superior parietal lobe of both monkeys and humans can be involved in movement planning; and (2) fast pointing actions can be immune to visual illusions even if they are performed without visual feedback. The planning–control model as proposed by Glover is almost certainly too schematic.

One 1120 pages volume, with 4000 entries covering - Western philosophy: authors, schools, concepts and terminology; - religions, cultural anthropology, eastern philosophies; - Psychology and psychoanalysis; - linguistics and semiotics; - sociology and political theory.

Si tratta di una raccolta di saggi scritti tra il '65 e il '69 e pubblicati una prima volta nel 1971. Rivisti e parzialmente aggiornati vengono riproposti con la vecchia introduzione nella quale l'autore polemizza con le critiche della ragione scientifica che caratterizzarono alcuni aspetti della cultura del '68. Il primo saggio è dedicato al declino della astrologia all'inizio dell'età moderna; sottolineando il divario tra la concezione magica che caratterizza la visione astrologica del mondo e le posizione di quella che (...) sarebbe diventata la scienza, Paolo Rossi rivaluta gli scritti contro l'astrologia di Pico della Mirandola. Dopo un breve scritto su Leonardo, l'autore analizza i rapporti tra pensiero baconiano e cristianesimo. Segue un saggio che riesamina alcuni problemi di interpretazione delle lettere di Galileo a Piero Dini e a Cristina di Lorena. Nei capitoli successivi vengono affrontate varie questioni quali, il passaggio dalla concezione aristotelica a quella moderna, il peso di alcune ipotesi astronomiche e in particolare la crisi dell'antropocentrismo. Gli ultimi due capitoli dedicati a dispute di linguistica e di geologia sono particolarmente interessanti; infatti queste due discipline occupano una posizione anomala nella cultura del seicento. Se a quel tempo esistevano matematici, astronomi, medici, non si può certo parlare di linguisti o geologi propriamente detti, questo fatto rende particolarmente difficile e interessante ricostruire lo sviluppo di concetti appartenenti a branche della scienza che non erano ancora consce della loro autonomia. (shrink)

This article identifies two tendencies in left-wing approaches toward the social sciences. The first expresses skepticism towards science as a kind of product of the ruling ideology that solely reproduces the status quo. The second worries about the capacity of scientific inquiry to actually change people's ingrained beliefs and prejudices. Antonio Gramsci and W.E.B. Du Bois are representative of these two diverging approaches. Their views on science, however, offer more commonalities than at first meet the eye. They are both critical (...) of sociological traditions that seek to discover universal laws of society, arguing that such an approach fails to grasp the complexity of causality and the role of human action in shaping their lives and history. On the other hand, both see the potential for rigorous and nuanced scientific analysis to offer grounds for concrete action and warn off wishful thinking. By combining their views, this article presents a conception of the role and potential of social scientific inquiry for progressive movements toward social change that navigates between the double-sided concerns represented by Gramsci and Du Bois. (shrink)

These proceedings collect the selected contributions of participants of the First Karl Schwarzschild Meeting on Gravitational Physics, held in Frankfurt, Germany to celebrate the 140th anniversary of Schwarzschild's birth. They are grouped into 4 main themes: I. The Life and Work of Karl Schwarzschild; II. Black Holes in Classical General Relativity, Numerical Relativity, Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Alternative Theories of Gravity; III. Black Holes in Quantum Gravity and String Theory; IV. Other Topics in Contemporary Gravitation. Inspired by the foundational principle ``By (...) acknowledging the past, we open a route to the future", the week-long meeting, envisioned as a forum for exchange between scientists from all locations and levels of education, drew participants from 15 countries across 4 continents. In addition to plenary talks from leading researchers, a special focus on young talent was provided, a feature underlined by the Springer Prize for the best student and junior presentations. (shrink)

Alzheimer's disease remains the most common form of dementia. Dementia symptoms vary depending on individual personality, life experience, and social and cultural influences. As dementia progresses, involvement of multi-disciplinary health care professionals is needed to manage the disease. Alzheimer research is progressing rapidly. While 5% of all Alzheimer's disease may be genetically determined, the majority is not. Susceptibility genes can reveal the risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease. Early life risk factors such as education, nutrition, and vascular disease may increase the (...) likelihood of dementia in later life. In the United States, two acetylcholinesterase inhibitors have been approved as cognitive enhancers. Possible prevention and symptomatic treatment interventions have focused on estrogen replacement therapy, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory medications. Research advances have improved the clinical management of dementia. Ethical implications to the patient, family, and society are multiple and remain challenging. (shrink)

RiassuntoVengono analizzati gli aspetti socio-demografici dei meccanismi messi in opera dalle popolazioni animali per regolare la propria densità numerica.Negli animali la regolazione demografica è un fenomeno legato alla strategia finalistica della Natura. D'altro canto lo scopo principale della Natura è la continuità della specie nelle migliori condizioni di vita e di congruità nell'ambiente.Il sistema migliore per esaminare come le specie animali limitino il numero dei propri individui al fine di mantenersi in equilibrio con l'ambiente è quello di studiare le popolazioni (...) delle varie specie.L'approccio ottimale per l'analisi del divenire di una popolazione si ha esaminando la sua densità, struttura, natalità, mortalità e dispersione.Inoltre la stabilità di una popolazione nel tempo è regolata da fattori densità-dipendenti. Invece i fattori non legati alla densità possono portare all'estinzione della popolazione. Fattori densità-dipendenti sono la competizione interindividuale, la capacità riproduttiva, la emigrazione, la predazione e i rapporti sociali. Tutti questi fattori mettono in essere un insieme di automatismi tipo feed-back negativi che permettono la stabilizzazione numerica temporale della popolazione.Nel tentativo di mantenersi congrue all'ambiente le popolazioni animali mettono in opera, o subiscono sotto la spinta evolutiva, altri meccanismi di autocompensazione come: manifestazioni comportamentali come territorialismo e dominanza sociale agiscono da regolatori del numero di individui nelle popolazioni animali. Infine si puntualizza il ruolo della selezione r (tasso intrinseco di accrescimento) e k (capacità biologica specifica) nella costituzione di popolazioni rispettivamente a strategia opportunistica, che conquistano nuovi habitat, o a strategia stabile, che vivono in habitat a maggiore durata. (shrink)

This methodological, policy-focused paper firstly defines the concept of “sustainable territorial innovation” and its operationalisation according to the strategic objectives of Europe 2020. Statistical processing was based on 26 indicators, which helped to perform a multivariate analysis and allowed to identify ten groups of municipalities characterised in terms of the territorial sustainable innovation idea. Their GIS spatial distribution has led authors to combine them with the set of indicators proposed by the Italian Government in the UE Cohesion Policy 2014–2020 perspective. (...) The paper also addresses the constraints and opportunities for urban and peri-urban policies within new scenarios. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article examines the Trinitarian anthropology inherent in the ‘charism of unity’ that characterizes the Focolare Movement stemming from the mystical experience of Chiara Lubich. After describing the theological cornerstones of this charism―namely the evangelical centrality of the commandment of reciprocal love, the circularity between theology and anthropology and Jesus Forsaken as the Christological key to understanding and achieving unity―the article studies its cultural implications as reflected in the philosophical and theological contribution of Klaus Hemmerle. In dialogue with modern thought, (...) Hemmerle in fact draws from and develops the anthropological meaning of the charism of unity as a feasible way to respond to the most acute challenges of today. (shrink)

Jason Brennan has argued that democracy is intrinsically unjust, for it grants voting power to politically incompetent individuals, thus exposing people to an undue risk of harm. He claims democracy should be replaced by epistocracy, i.e., the rule of the knowers. In this paper, I show that his argument fails. First, Brennan mistakes voters’ competence for voters’ trustworthiness. Second, despite Brennan's claim to the contrary, an epistocracy may not reduce people’s exposure to an undue risk of harm. Third, Brennan overlooks (...) the fact that citizens are not equally affected by ‘bad voting.’ Fourth, far from being a defence of libertarian ideals, Brennan's argument supports paternalism. (shrink)

Many believe that a citizen who engages in civil disobedience is not exempt from the sanctions that apply to standard law-breaking conduct. Since he is responsible for a deliberate breach of the law, he is also liable to punishment. Focusing on a conception of responsibility as answerability, I argue that a civil disobedient is responsible (i.e. answerable) to his fellows for the charges of wrongdoing, yet he is not liable to punishment merely for breaching the law. To support this claim, (...) I defend an account of political obligation framed in terms of respect for (rather than mere obedience to) the law, and argue that the mere illegality of civil disobedience does not suffice to establish wrongdoing. I then discuss and reject three objections to my argument. (shrink)

(2000). The Evolutionary challenge for the Enterprise. World Futures: Vol. 55, Challenges of Evolution at the Turn of the Millennium: Part III: The Chllenges of Globalization and Sustainability, pp. 159-171.

Protein aggregation has been studied for at least 3 decades, and many of the principles that regulate this event are relatively well understood. Here, however, we present a different perspective to explain why proteins aggregate: we argue that aggregation may occur as a side‐effect of the lack of one or more natural partners that, under physiologic conditions, would act as chaperones. This would explain why the same surfaces that have evolved for functional purposes are also those that favour aggregation. In (...) the course of reviewing this field, we substantiate our hypothesis with three paradigmatic examples that argue for the generality of our proposal. An obvious corollary of this hypothesis is, of course, that targeting the physiological partners of a protein could be the most direct and specific approach to designing anti‐aggregation molecules. Our analysis may thus inform a different strategy for combating diseases of protein aggregation and misfolding. (shrink)

The fair-play theory of punishment claims that the state is justified in imposing additional burdens on law-breakers, to remove the unfair advantage the latter have enjoyed by disobeying the law. From this perspective, punishment reestablishes a fair distribution of benefits and burdens among all citizens. In this paper, I object to this view by focusing on the case of civil disobedience. I argue that the mere illegality of this conduct is insufficient to establish the agent’s unfair advantage over his lawabiding (...) fellows, hence the imposition of additional burdens upon him through legal punishment. I articulate a broader account of citizens’ fair-play duties, able to capture disobedience as well as obedience to the law. While claiming that some law-breakers may not be treated as free-riders, I also gesture at the fact that some law-obeying citizens may not be ‘playing fair’: in some cases, a failure to engage in civil disobedience represents a failure to do one’s own part within the cooperative scheme of society. (shrink)

When a quantified premise such as: Everyone loves anyone who loves someone, occurs with a premise such as: Anne loves Beth, it follows immediately that everyone loves Anne. It also follows that Carol loves Diane, where these two individuals are in the domain of discourse. According to the theory of mental models, this inference requires the quantified premise to be used again to update a model of specific individuals. The paper reports four experiments examining such iterative inferences. Experiment 1 confirmed (...) that they are harder than immediate inferences. Experiment 2 extended the finding to negative inferences, i.e., granted that Anne does not love Beth, it follows from the quantified premise that Carol does not love Diane. Experiment 3 established that intermediate steps referring to specific individuals are accepted more readily than intermediate steps referring to quantified variables. Experiment 4 showed that the participants' written justifications corroborated the model theory. (shrink)