The structure and regulative function of the cognitive styles: a new theory The organization of human cognitive styles can be described as a kind of functional system or as an holon. In this framework it is possible to propose a new theoretical base for classifying the primary cognitive styles. The fundamental theoretical thesis is that for all styles there is one common mechanism of forming and scanning the perceptual and memory field induced by the situation, and by the (...) differences in the manner of carrying out the processes of field scanning /codes interfering depend on the range of conceptual equivalency and cognitive control of behavior. In the functional describing of the basic set of cognitive styles we must take into account three elements of the chain: neurobiological modules ® organization of cognitive holon ® behavioral manifestation of styles. (shrink)

John Searle’s distinction between regulative and constitutive rules is an enduringly important contribution to our understanding of rules, of language, and of rule-based or rule-bounded institutions. It is important to add to Searle’s account, however, by pointing out the regulative function of constitutive rules. Many human activities and goals can be pursued in multiple ways, but constituting the approved or official way of doing things, as is so common in law, has the effect of making alternatives less (...) eligible, less available, or less permitted, all of which can be seen as the regulative overhang of constitutive rules. (shrink)

Due to the rise of functional foods,the distinction between foods and medicines hasbecome increasingly blurred. A new EUregulation covering health claims and otherclaims on food and drink products is on thedocks. A basic motive of legal regulation oflabeling and advertising is to inform andprotect the consumer. Promotion of informedchoice and consumer protection may, however, beconflicting objectives. A further problemsprings from the fact that choice, likeconsent, is a propositional attitude andtherefore opaque. Thus it is extremelydifficult for regulators to fasten onparticular formulations (...) of claims. Despite theprofessed respect for the autonomy of theconsumer, paternalism is never far away andeasily enters in various guises. (shrink)

Analysis in bioethics has relied primarily on the identification and application of general principles and on the examination of particular paradigmatic cases. Principalism and casuistry depend on an assumption of generalizability; that is, that learning and insights gained from an understanding of the principles or the case may be effectively applied to other similar situations. For the most part, the particular characteristics of the institutional setting have not played a central role in these approaches. It would appear, then, that what (...) has been learned in the context of one health care setting is transferable, with some few adjustments, to another. The institutional context does make both a practical and a substantive difference, however, and shifting ethical analyses from one context to another has sometimes proven difficult. This has been so, for example, in the context of nursing home care. (shrink)

Analysis in bioethics has relied primarily on the identification and application of general principles and on the examination of particular paradigmatic cases. Principalism and casuistry depend on an assumption of generalizability; that is, that learning and insights gained from an understanding of the principles or the case may be effectively applied to other similar situations. For the most part, the particular characteristics of the institutional setting have not played a central role in these approaches. It would appear, then, that what (...) has been learned in the context of one health care setting is transferable, with some few adjustments, to another.The institutional context does make both a practical and a substantive difference, however, and shifting ethical analyses from one context to another has sometimes proven difficult. This has been so, for example, in the context of nursing home care. (shrink)

The gene regulation function (GRF) provides an operational description of a promoter behavior as a function of the concentration of one of its transcriptional regulators. Behind this apparently trivial definition lies a central concept in biological control: the GRF provides the input/output relationship of each edge in a transcriptional network, independently from the molecular interactions involved. Here we discuss how existing methods allow direct measurement of the GRF, and how several trade‐offs between scalability and accuracy have hindered its (...) application to relatively large networks. We discuss the theoretical and technical requirements for obtaining the GRF. Based on these requirements, we introduce a simplified and easily scalable method that is able to capture the significant parameters of the GRF. The GRF is able to predict the behavior of a simple genetic circuit, illustrating how addressing the quantitative nature of gene regulation substantially increases our comprehension on the mechanisms of gene control. (shrink)

Analyzing the ancient Greek point of view concerning anger, shame and justice and a very modern one, one can see, that anger has a regulative function, but shame does as well. Anger puts the other in his place, thereby regulating hierarchies. Shame regulates the social relations of recognition. And both emotions also have an evaluative function, because anger evaluates a situation with regard to a humiliation; shame, with regard to a misdemeanor. In addition, attention has to be (...) paid to the correct molding of these emotions and the correct ways of using them in rearing to be good or just (i.e., in personality formation. (shrink)

This study examined the relationship between individual differences in executive functions (EF; assessed by measures of working memory, Stroop, trail making, and verbal fluency) and ability to down-regulate and up-regulate responses to emotionally evocative film clips. To ensure a wide range of EF, 48 participants with diverse neurodegenerative disorders and 21 older neurologically normal ageing participants were included. Participants were exposed to three different movie clips that were designed to elicit a mix of disgust and amusement. While watching the films (...) they were either instructed to watch, down-regulate, and up-regulate their visible emotional responses. Heart rate and facial behaviours were monitored throughout. Emotion regulatory ability was operationalised as changes in heart rate and facial behaviour in the down- and up-regulation conditions, controlling for responses in the watch condition. Results indicated that higher verbal fluency scores were related to greater ability to regulate emotion in both the down-regulation and up-regulation conditions. This finding remained significant even after controlling for age and general cognitive functioning. No relationships were found between emotion regulation and the other EF measures. We believe these results derive from differences among EF measures, with verbal-fluency performance best capturing the complex sequence of controlled planning, activation, and monitoring required for successful emotion regulation. These findings contribute to our understanding of emotion–cognition interaction, suggesting a link between emotion-regulatory abilities and individual differences in complex executive functions. (shrink)

The negative emotions generated following stressful life events can increase one’s risk of depressive symptoms and promote higher levels of perceived stress. The process model of emotion regulation can help distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to determine who may be at the greatest risk of worse psychological health across the lifespan. Heart rate variability may affect these relationships as it indexes aspects of self-regulation, including emotion and behavioral regulation, that enable an individual to dynamically adapt to the (...) changing demands of both internal and external environments. In this study, we expected individual differences in resting vagally mediated HRV to moderate the influence of emotion regulatory strategies among our sample of 267 adults. We found support for the hypothesis that higher vagally mediated HRV buffers against the typical adverse effects of expressive suppression when evaluating depressive symptoms and found weak support when considering perceived stress. There was no evidence for an interaction between cognitive reappraisal and vagally mediated HRV but there was a significant, negative association between cognitive reappraisal and depressive symptoms and perceived stress. Future work may determine if intervening on either emotion regulation strategies or HRV may change these within-persons over time. (shrink)

The explosion in sequencing technologies has provided us with an instrument to describe mammalian transcriptomes at unprecedented depths. This has revealed that alternative splicing is used extensively not only to generate protein diversity, but also as a means to regulate gene expression post‐transcriptionally. Intron retention (IR) is overwhelmingly perceived as an aberrant splicing event with little or no functional consequence. However, recent work has now shown that IR is used to regulate a specific differentiation event within the haematopoietic system by (...) coupling it to nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay (NMD). Here, we highlight how IR and, more broadly, alternative splicing coupled to NMD (AS‐NMD) can be used to regulate gene expression and how this is deregulated in disease. We suggest that the importance of AS‐NMD is not restricted to the haematopoietic system but that it plays a prominent role in other normal and aberrant biological settings. (shrink)

Introduction: Adolescence is the most critical life period for the development of eating disorder symptomatology. Although problems in identity functioning and emotion dysregulation have been proven important risk and maintaining factors of ED symptomatology, they have never been integrated in a longitudinal study.Methods: The present study is part of the Longitudinal Identity research in Adolescence -study and aimed to uncover the temporal interplay between identity functioning, cognitive emotion regulation, and ED symptomatology in adolescence. A total of 2,162 community adolescents participated (...) at three measurement points with 1-year intervals. They reported on identity functioning, cognitive emotion regulation, and ED symptomatology.Results: Cross-lagged paths could be fixed for boys and girls and showed bidirectional associations between both dimensions of identity functioning and both rumination and catastrophizing over time. Similarly, these maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies were bidirectionally related to ED symptomatology over time. Finally, indirect pathways pointed to bidirectional associations between both dimensions of identity functioning and bulimia symptoms through rumination and catastrophizing. Only unidirectional associations emerged for drive for thinness and almost no cross-lagged associations were found with positive reappraisal.Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that identity confusion may contribute to the development of ED symptomatology in adolescence through cognitive emotion dysregulation. It also reveals that these ED symptoms hamper identity development through emotion dysregulation. These results stress the importance of targeting both identity functioning and cognitive emotion regulation in the prevention and intervention of ED symptoms. (shrink)

The term functional domain is often used to describe the region containing the cis acting sequences that regulate a gene locus. “Strong” domain models propose that the domain is a spatially isolated entity consisting of a region of extended accessible chromatin bordered by insulators that have evolved to act as functional boundaries. However, the observation that independently regulated loci can overlap partially or completely raises questions about functional requirements for physically isolated domain structures. An alternative model, the “weak” domain model, (...) proposes that domain structure is determined by the distribution of binding sites for positively acting factors, without a requirement for functional boundaries. The domain would effectively be the region that contains these factor-binding sites. Specificity of promoter-enhancer interactions would play a major role in maintaining the functional autonomy of adjacent genes. Sequences that interfere with these interactions (frequently characterised as insulators) would be selected against if they occurred within the domain but not at the edges, or in the interdomain regions. As a result, insulators would often be found near the borders of domains without necessarily being selected to act as boundaries. BioEssays 22:657–665, 2000. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Here is a rather mundane set of claims about the stapler on my desk: The function of my stapler is to staple sheets of paper together. If the stapler is loaded with staples, but for some reason will not staple papers, the stapler is malfunctioning. That is, it is not doing what it is supposed to do. It is defective, or misshapen, misaligned or inadequate to its task, or in some other way normatively defective: there is something wrong with (...) it. The reason that my stapler has its function, and is capable of having something wrong with it, is that my stapler is designed to staple sheets of paper together. Some human being sat down at some point and formed intentions about the production of objects which would, if everything went as planned, staple sheets of paper together. As a result of this person’s intentions, my stapler was produced, and because of the particular content of these intentions, my stapler was bestowed with its particular function. (shrink)

Excessive alcohol use has adverse effects on the central nervous system (CNS) and can lead to alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Recent studies have suggested that myelin reductions may directly contribute to CNS dysfunctions associated with AUDs. Myelin consists of compact lipid membranes wrapped around axons to provide electrical insulation and trophic support. Regulation of myelin is considered as a new form of neural plasticity due to its profound impacts on the computation of neural networks. In this review, the authors first (...) discuss experimental evidence showing how alcohol exposure causes demyelination in different brain regions, often accompanied by deficits in cognition and emotion. Next, they discuss postulated molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying alcohol's impact on myelin. It is clear that more extensive investigations are needed in this important but underexplored research field in order to gain a better understanding of the myelin‐behavior relationship and to develop new treatment strategies for AUDs. (shrink)

Hypocretin regulates brain reward function and cocaine consumption in rats. The hypocretinergic (Hcrt) system is implicated in energy homeostasis, feeding and sleep regulation. Hypocretinergic cell bodies are located in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and project throughout the brain. The aim of the present studies was to investigate the role of the Hcrt system in regulating brain reward function and the reinforcing properties of cocaine in rats. Intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) thresholds provide an accurate measure of brain reward function (...) in rats. Here we show that a single injection of Hcrt-1 (5 µg icv) induced persistent, long-lasting elevations in ICSS thresholds in drug-naïve rats. Indeed, Hrct-1 elevated ICSS thresholds for 36 h, with peak elevations between 6 and 12 hours after injection. Hrct-1-induced threshold elevations were attenuated by an antibody known to neutralize the binding of hcrt-1 to its receptors. Taken together, these observations suggest that Hrct-1 negatively regulates brain reward function in rats. Because Hrct-1 negatively regulates brain reward function, we hypothesized that it may attenuate the increased brain reward function usually observed after cocaine consumption, and thereby alter cocaine self-administration behavior. A daily injection of Hrct-1 (1 µg icv), for 4 consecutive days, slightly increased cocaine self-administration (0.25 mg/infusion) in rats. Overall, these data demonstrate that Hrct-1 negatively regulates brain reward function, and as such may indirectly alter cocaine self-administration. Given the well-established role of hypocretin neurons in regulating feeding behavior and sleep, we hypothesize that hypocretinergic regulation of brain reward function may provide a mechanism by which appropriate and competing behaviors (e.g. sleep or feeding) may be engaged to maintain energy homeostasis. (shrink)

Neddylation, a ubiquitylation‐like post‐translational modification, is catalyzed by a cascade composed of three enzymes: E1 activating enzyme, E2 conjugating enzyme, and E3 ligase with cullins as physiological substrates. Specifically, neddylation E2 UBE2M couples with E3 RBX1 to neddylate cullins 1–4, whereas neddylation E2 UBE2F couples with E3 RBX2/SAG to neddylate cullin 5, leading to activation of CRL1‐4 (Cullin‐RING ligases 1–4) and CRL5, respectively. While over‐activation of the neddylation‐CRLs axis occurs frequently in many human cancers, how neddylation‐CRLs regulate the function (...) of immune cells, particularly Treg cells was previously unknown. To this end, we recently performed Treg selective knockout of two neddylation E2s and two E3s, individually, driven by Foxp3‐Cre, and found that while the Ube2f‐Sag E2/E3 pair plays a minimal role, if any, the Ube2m‐Rbx1 pair is essential for the maintenance of Treg functionality, since their deletion triggers robust inflammatory response with autoimmune phenotypes. Milder phenotype severity upon Treg KO of upstream Ube2m than that of downstream Rbx1 strongly suggested that Rbx1 regulates Treg function in a manner dependent and independent of neddylation. (shrink)

Joint Analysis of EEG and fMRI datasets can bring new insight into brain mechanisms. In this paper, we employed the recently introduced Correlated Coupled Tensor Matrix Factorization (CCMTF) method for analysis of the emotion regulation paradigm based on EEG frontal asymmetry neurofeedback in the alpha frequency band with simultaneous fMRI. CCMTF method assumes that the co-variations of the common dimension (temporal dimension) between EEG and fMRI are correlated and not necessarily identical. The results of the CCMTF method suggested that EEG (...) and fMRI had similar covariations during the transition of brain activities from resting states to task (view and upregulation) states and these covariations followed an increasing trend. The fMRI shared spatial component showed activations in the limbic system, DLPFC, OFC, and VLPC regions, which were consistent with the previous studies and were linked to EEG frequency patterns in the range of 1–15 Hz with a correlation value close to 0.75. The estimated regions from the CCMTF method were then used as the candidate nodes for dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) analysis, in which the changes in connectivity from view to upregulation states were examined. The results of the dFC analysis were compared with a Normalized Mutual information (NMI) based approach in two different frequency ranges (1–15 and 15–40 Hz) as the NMI method was applied to the vectors of dFC nodes of EEG and fMRI data. The results of the two methods illustrated that the relation between EEG and fMRI datasets was mostly in the frequency range of 1–15 Hz. These relations were both in the brain activations and the dFCs between the two modalities. This paper suggests that the CCMTF method is a capable approach for extracting the shared information between EEG and fMRI data and can reveal new information about brain functions and their connectivity without solving the EEG inverse problem or analyzing different frequency bands. (shrink)

ArgumentIn this essay, I sketch a problem-based framework within which I locate the concept of “organism” in the system theories of Georg Ernst Stahl, Théophile Bordeu, and Paul-Joseph Barthez. Around 1700, Stahl coins the word “organism” for a certain concept of order. For him, the concept explains the form of order of living bodies that is categorically different from the order of other bodies or composites. At the end of the century, the “organism” as a specific form of order becomes (...) a major topos in many discourses. I will not so much focus on experiments and objects as on basic problems that contribute to the general framework of the concept of organism as a key concept of the vitalist movement between 1700 and 1800. For this purpose, I will investigate the combination of three explanatory tools. These tools refer to regulating agents, functional interactions, and stimulus-reactions-schemes within individual organic systems of forces. They are related to various themes – especially to energy, sensibility, and sympathy. I will retrace some aspects of these relations. (shrink)

Ubiquitination is essential in mediating diverse cellular functions including protein degradation and trafficking. Ubiquitin‐protein (E3) ligases determine the substrate specificity of the ubiquitination process. The Nedd4 family of E3 ligases is an evolutionarily conserved family of proteins required for the ubiquitination of a large number of cellular targets. As a result, this family regulates a wide variety of cellular processes including transcription, stability and trafficking of plasma membrane proteins, and the degradation of misfolded proteins. The modular architecture of the proteins, (...) comprising a C2 domain, multiple WW domains and a catalytic domain, enables diverse intermolecular interactions and recruitment to various subcellular locations. The WW domains commonly mediate interaction with substrate proteins; however, an increasing number of Nedd4 targets do not contain obvious WW domain‐interaction motifs suggesting the involvement of accessory proteins. This review discusses recent insights into how accessory and adaptor proteins modulate the activities of Nedd4 family members, including recruitment of novel substrates, alteration of subcellular localisation and effects on ubiquitination. BioEssays 28: 617–628, 2006. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

In vertebrate and invertebrate nonmuscle myosins, light‐ and heavy‐chain phosphorylation regulate myosin assembly into filaments, and interaction with actin. Vertebrate non‐muscle myosins can exist in vitro in three main states, either ‘folded’ (assembly‐blocked) or ‘extended’ (assembly‐competent) monomers, and filaments. Light‐chain phosphorylation regulates the ‘dynamic equilibrium’ between these states. The ability of the myosin to undergo changes in conformation and state of assembly may be an important mechanism in regulating the organization of the cytoskeleton and cell motility.

Pre‐existing but untranslated or ‘poised’ mRNA exists as a means to rapidly induce the production of specific proteins in response to stimuli and as a safeguard to limit the actions of these proteins. The translation of poised mRNA enables immune cells to express quickly genes that enhance immune responses. The molecular mechanisms that repress the translation of poised mRNA and, upon stimulation, enable translation have yet to be elucidated. They likely reflect intrinsic properties of the mRNAs and their interactions with (...) trans‐acting factors that direct poised mRNAs away from or into the ribosome. Here, I discuss mechanisms by which this might be regulated. (shrink)

The chapter shows how the recognition of reflexivity of emotions is crucial for understanding the role of emotions in reasoning because it highlights the regulatory role of emotion in emotional experience. The chapter begins by showing that to attain a conception of rationality that incorporates feelings, emotions, and sentiments as parts of the reasoning processes requires capturing the emotional landscape in all its complexity, and that integrating the role of meta-emotions is a contribution in that direction. Then introducing the notion (...) of meta-emotions and showing how emotional reflexivity modifies the nature of our emotional world, it is shown how emotions also have a regulatory mechanism that can either be maladaptive or at the center of emotional health. In addition, because meta-emotions provide a test for the more general assumptions of theories of emotions, the chapter ends by showing how adopting a Situated Approach to Emotions is well-suited for explaining the refinement and complexity of emotion regulation. The final reflection of the chapter explains why adopting such theoretical frame of work makes it possible to use the term situation in a technical manner, which then reveals that emotions sometimes are described as causes while other times as reasons in connection to their regulative mechanisms. (shrink)

Synapsins I and II are a family of synaptic vesicle‐associated phosphoproteins involved in the short‐term regulation of neurotransmitter release. In this review, we discuss a working model for the molecular mechanisms by which the synapsins act. We propose that synapsin I links synaptic vesicles to actin filaments in the presynaptic nerve terminal and that these interactions are modulated by the reversible phosphorylation of synapsin I through various signal transduction pathways. The high degree of homology between the synapsins suggests that some (...) of the functional properties of synapsin I are also shared by synapsin II. (shrink)

Myelin is required for efficient nerve conduction, but not all axons are myelinated to the same extent. Here we review recent studies that have revealed distinct myelination patterns of different axonal paths, suggesting that myelination is not an all or none phenomenon and that its presence is finely regulated in central nervous system networks. Whereas powerful reductionist biology has led to important knowledge of how oligodendrocytes function by themselves, little is known about their role in neuronal networks. We still (...) do not understand how oligodendrocytes integrate information from neurons to adapt their function to the need of the system. An intricate cross talk between neurons and glia is likely to exist and to determine how neuronal circuits operate as a whole. Dissecting these mechanisms by using integrative systems biology approaches is one of the major challenges ahead. (shrink)

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is one of the most abundant and critical protein folding catalysts in the endoplasmic reticulum of eukaryotic cells. PDI consists of four thioredoxin domains and interacts with a wide range of substrate and partner proteins due to its intrinsic conformational flexibility. PDI plays multifunctional roles in a variety of pathophysiological events, both as an oxidoreductase and a molecular chaperone. Recent studies have revealed that the conformation and activity of PDI can be regulated in multiple ways, including (...) posttranslational modification and substrate/ligand binding. Here, we summarize recent advances in understanding the function and regulation of PDI in different pathological and physiological events. We propose that the multifunctional roles of PDI are regulated by multiple mechanisms. Furthermore, we discuss future directions for the study of PDI, emphasizing how different regulatory modes are linked to the conformational changes and biological functions of PDI in the context of diverse pathophysiologies. (shrink)

Many psychological scientists and behavioral neuroscientists affirm that “emotion” influences thinking, decision-making, actions, social relationships, well-being, and physical and mental health. Yet there is no consensus on a definition of the word “emotion,” and the present data suggest that it cannot be defined as a unitary concept. Theorists and researchers attribute quite different yet heuristic meanings to “emotion.” They show considerable agreement about emotion activation, functions, and regulation. The central goal of this article is to alert researchers, students, and other (...) consumers of “emotion” research to the multiple meanings or aspects that distinguished scientists attribute to ”emotion,” increase appreciation of its interesting and challenging complexity, and sharpen perspectives on “emotion” and the associated body of literature that is of critical significance to science and society. (shrink)

ABSTRACTBeing able to resist temptation at a young age is crucial for successful functioning yet it can be challenging. According to the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation with Emotion Regulation framework, one central element of successful functioning is selection which involves choosing among regulatory options whose resource requirements fits with the amount of available resources an individual possesses. Although conceptually important, direct empirical evidence is lacking. Accordingly, the present study utilised performance based measures to examine the interactive effect of regulatory selection (...) to resist temptation, and individual differences in executive resources, on functioning in young children. Specifically, 39 first grade children that varied in executive resources, selected between two major regulatory strategies to resist temptation, that varied in their resource demands, and were evaluated on successful functioning... (shrink)

Wnts are a recently described family of secreted glycoproteins related to the Drosophila segment polarity gene, wingless, and to the proto‐oncogene, int‐1. Wnts are thought to function as developmental modulators, with signalling distances of only a few cell diameters. In Xenopus, at least six Wnts, including Xwnts‐1, ‐3A, and ‐4, are expressed initially in the developing central nervous system, with some regions expressing multiple Xwnts. Xwnt‐8 is expressed by mid‐blastula stage, in ventral and lateral mesoderm. Xwnt‐5A mRNAs are stored (...) in the egg, and later are expressed throughout the embryo in both ectoderm and mesoderm, but with a pronounced enrichment in the head and tail. Recent studies in Xenopus have pursued the diverse roles of Xwnts in early development, the mechanisms by which Xwnts signal information between cells, and the cell physiological responses to Xwnt signals. (shrink)

Endocrinologists apply the idea of feedback loops to explain how hormones regulate certain bodily functions such as glucose metabolism. In particular, feedback loops focus on the maintenance of the plasma concentrations of glucose within a narrow range. Here, we put forward a different, organicist perspective on the endocrine regulation of glycaemia, by relying on the pivotal concept of closure of constraints. From this perspective, biological systems are understood as organized ones, which means that they are constituted of a set of (...) mutually dependent functional structures acting as constraints, whose maintenance depends on their reciprocal interactions. Closure refers specifically to the mutual dependence among functional constraints in an organism. We show that, when compared to feedback loops, organizational closure can generate much richer descriptions of the processes and constraints at play in the metabolism and regulation of glycaemia, by making explicit the different hierarchical orders involved. We expect that the proposed theoretical framework will open the way to the construction of original mathematical models, which would provide a better understanding of endocrine regulation from an organicist perspective. (shrink)

Much of the legal literature discusses regulation and regulatory forms with a seemingly implicit assumption that "those to be influenced" are inherently self-interested and thus motivated to comply with legal structures only when there are sufficient external incentives to do so. This view of the person is inconsistent with recent perspectives in the field of psychology. A law and morality perspective, coupled with insights from the field of psychology, asserts that influence, compliance, and motivation are far more complex than this (...) legal literature would suggest. In this Article, we map the varying influence structures, motives, psychological needs, emotional mechanisms, and levels of moral reasoning that various forms of regulation, from hard law to soft law, might appeal to. We provide examples from global banking and one soft law initiative, the Equator Principles, to illustrate reasons psychology would suggest why soft law may be more effective in some circumstances in influencing behavior within the firm than hard law, while recognizing important limits to such influence. (shrink)

Biological regulation is what allows an organism to handle the effects of a perturbation, modulating its own constitutive dynamics in response to particular changes in internal and external conditions. With the central focus of analysis on the case of minimal living systems, we argue that regulation consists in a specific form of second-order control, exerted over the core regime of production and maintenance of the components that actually put together the organism. The main argument is that regulation requires a distinctive (...) architecture of functional relationships, and specifically the action of a dedicated subsystem whose activity is dynamically decoupled from that of the constitutive regime. We distinguish between two major ways in which control mechanisms contribute to the maintenance of a biological organisation in response to internal and external perturbations: dynamic stability and regulation. Based on this distinction an explicit definition and a set of organisational requirements for regulation are provided, and thoroughly illustrated through the examples of bacterial chemotaxis and the lac-operon. The analysis enables us to mark out the differences between regulation and closely related concepts such as feedback, robustness and homeostasis. (shrink)